The Hudson Valley, with its many Frederic Church painting-worthy charms, was a longtime hideaway for Erin Appleton, her mother, Kathleen Casey, and their family. It’s where they would spend summers at Mohonk Mountain House, the Victorian-era resort nestled on the spellbinding Shawangunk Ridge. But after Appleton’s father passed away, the women felt it was time to put down new roots. With Appleton’s husband, three children, and two bunnies in tow, they set out to find a residence that ticked some slightly ambitious boxes: a place that would serve simultaneously as a weekend home for the young family and a more permanent base for Casey, who would spend most of her time there—all in close proximity to their beloved Mohonk Mountain resort.
What they soon found on their search bore particular appeal for the multigenerational crew: a historic 1890s carriage house with a persuasive layout. The upstairs had previously served as an apartment while the main level functioned as Airbnb rentals. Plus, there was a stable, replete with the original owner’s hidden stash of 180-proof apple brandy and cigarette-marked barn walls. “That was the biggest allure ever!” laughs Appleton. “We thought it was the coolest place we’d ever seen.” The carriage house required renovation before anyone could move in, and the stable had been notably neglected, but the family already had their designer in mind: Kristen Ekeland, of AD PRO Directory firm Studio Gild, with whom Appleton had been friends since their childhood together in Westchester, New York. (“Basically, they were like my second family,” says Ekeland of Appleton and Casey. “I [practically] lived in their house.”)
A nearby barn project by local architect Kurt Sutherland revealed his “great eye for retaining the bones of these historic homes but then modernizing it,” the designer says, making him their top choice for the refurbishment. With the house purchased in 2018 and structural changes completed just before the onset of the pandemic, mother, daughter, and designer began flexing their sourcing muscles in the local design scene. “So much of the furniture was sourced locally with artists they’d find at Field + Supply,” shares Ekeland. “Erin loves making friends and loves supporting local artists, so that became a big part of the design process. That’s also why it took a while from start to end, because it was a very organic process, and it was about finding the right thing for each space.”
Ekeland focused on making the home’s gathering areas equally inviting and functional. She expanded the original footprint of the kitchen, tackling two seemingly incongruent goals: avoid upper cabinets and keep as much of the kitchen’s inner workings concealed as possible. “Erin had seen what I had done in my kitchen, which I was renovating at the time, and needed the confidence to say, ‘We can do this without upper [cabinets],’” recalls the designer; in place of them, a “gallery moment” features framed watercolor and pencil drawings by artist Gabe Brown and picture lights instead of task lights.
