The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Water influences home’s chic decor
In an airy connecticut
home just steps from Long Island Sound, a pastry chef turned entrepreneur filled a new house with old world finds and soft, natural materials to create a relaxed vibe that’s as fluid as the tide.
The words “shiny and new” have never resonated with Laura Jayson. “Give me something old or weathere d,”shesays.“I like objects with history.” And true to form, when a crumbling Victorian in an unbeatable location — right on the e dgeofLong Island Sound on Rowayton’s Bell Island, and just asto ne’s throw from both her parents’ and sister’s places — caught the eyes of Jayson and her longtime love, Ted Waters, they couldn’t resist the opportunity. But even she had to admit the structure was a goner. “The walls were so rotted, you could put your finger through them,” she recalls. “We had to tear it down and start fresh.”
Fortunately, Jayson knew just the person to turn to: Andy Glazer, a family friend and local builder who specializes in restoring historic houses and constructing new ones in the spirit of the past. Together, they designed a three-bedroom home that has all the charm of a weathered seaside cottage, but without a hint of creakiness, dimness or drafts. Their next priority was optimizing the site’s incredible views. “Sometimes the sound appears glassy blue, other times a steely gray,” says Jayson. “It changes from hour to hour, season to season. It’s mesmerizing.”
To create essentiall ya viewing pane for it, Glazer opened up the entire back wall of the first floor with 10-foot-high Kolbe windows and matching French doors that lead right out to the water. “That was the best decision we made ,” she says. Envisioning, building and outfitting the home also turned into a creative vocation for Jayson: A formally trained pastry chef, she owned Flea, a vintage home-goods shop
and café in Rowayton, for a time before launching El Co, a design, development and consulting business, with her partner, Laura Grabe. They’ve also refurbished a 1950s camper trailer, transforming it into a mobile “caravan bar” that’s used to cater parties around the area.
Back in Jayson’s home, earthy materials give every room a lived-in patina. Decorative ceil
ing beams were sourced from an old barn in Wisconsin, and stone walls in the kitchen, made from 6-inch mortared granite, have the centuries-old feel of farmhouses in Ibiza and Majorca.
“We love that finca style,” says Jayson, who cooks and entertains regularly. “It has warmth
and soul.” The soft palette of grays, taupes, wheats and whites continues upstairs, where glossy
painted floors anchor the couple’s serene bedroom. From those northeast-fac
ing windows, the family can take in some knockout sunrises. “They’re beautiful,” she says. “It’s just amatterofw aking up in time!” Love and light
Reclaimed-wood beams lend a well-worn feel to Laura Jayson and Ted Waters’ Rowayton, Connecticut, home, which
they built in 2011. The Brazilian-hardwood dining table is an antique, and the Ay Illuminate light fixture was purchased at HomeStories, in Brooklyn, NewYork.
Ebb and flow
To complement rather
than compete with the view, the couple’s living room is a study in neutrals and organic textures, from the smooth concrete fireplace facade to the stucco walls to the plush sheep- skin and cowhide accents. The midcentury chairs were flea market finds, the vintage Adrian Pearsall double rocker was pro- cured on eBay and the teak tables are from Terrain.
Reflective surfaces
An array of old mirrors, which Jayson snapped up for less than $5 each
and spray-painted white, brightens the downstairs powder room. The wood paneling on the walls, repurposed from the floor of an old inn in New Canaan, Connecticut, is also used on the home’s first-floor ceiling.
Cook’s quarters
Stone walls give the kitchen a rustic quality, while open shelves and ah igh-powered professional-grade faucet make it efficient. The pendant lights and stools are vintage, and the countertop is pietra del Cardoso, a honed granite Jayson admires for its “waterlike pattern.”
Calmest waters
The master bedroom holds little more than a king-size rattan bed Jayson bought years ago, a nightstand she painted white, a vintage lamp and a ceremonial juju hat from Cameroon (found on Etsy). The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Moonshine.