Houzz Tours
My Houzz: A New Place for a Family to Gather on a Virginia Farm
After the old farmhouse had to come down, a couple built an elegant new one in an English manor style
Kent and Kathryn Colton weren’t the first people to live in the 1907 farmhouse that was part of an even older farm, but they cherished the years they spent there raising their family. When new zoning laws meant the historic home had to be torn down just over 100 years after it had been built, the couple grieved, but fortunately they had already begun plans to build a new house on the farm. And although Kathryn was sad to say goodbye to her farmhouse, she and Kent worked closely with their architect to ensure that their new English manor-style home would be just as idyllic as their farmhouse had been.
“The first step was to find an architect and builder,” she adds. “After a few false starts, we settled on the homebuilders, Mike and Patrick at Galileo. We used their architect, Richard Foster.”
One of the highlights of the new house is the open kitchen. “We wanted a large eat-in kitchen,” she says. “Combining a breakfast room with the kitchen allowed us to take advantage of views overlooking the meadow and creek.”
One of the highlights of the new house is the open kitchen. “We wanted a large eat-in kitchen,” she says. “Combining a breakfast room with the kitchen allowed us to take advantage of views overlooking the meadow and creek.”
Doors on both sides of the breakfast room lead outside. One provides access to the kitchen, while the other opens to this back balcony.
“A long covered terrace at the back of the house enjoys the same view [as the breakfast room],” Kathryn says. The couple installed ceiling fans to keep cool in Virginia’s summer humidity.
“A long covered terrace at the back of the house enjoys the same view [as the breakfast room],” Kathryn says. The couple installed ceiling fans to keep cool in Virginia’s summer humidity.
On the balcony wall, a painting of a flower nods to the outdoor space.
In her kitchen garden, Kathryn plants squashes, cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs. “Outside the kitchen, we have a small terrace surrounded by boxwood bushes. It is easy to step into this kitchen garden for herbs planted in pots,” she says. In the mornings, she often enjoys her bowl of granola over yogurt in this quiet and private space.
The many windows throughout the new house also help forge a connection between the interior and the outdoors, and nowhere is it more obvious than in the kitchen itself. “A cherished feature of the home, now that we have lived in it for some time, is its relationship to the environment and nature,” Kathryn says. “As we move from space to space, each window has a captivating view to enjoy. We enjoy a bird’s-eye view to see the seasons come and go.”
In their current kitchen, visitors can spy a hint of the Coltons’ Scandinavian roots in the antique carved tray from Europe on the counter.
Plates and other kitchenware from the couple’s years of travel rest in the glass-front cabinets. The figured plates come from Spain, while the yellow dishes with floral designs are from Provence, France. The crystal bowl with hand-painted flowers, on the top right shelf, is from Swedish crystalware maker Orrefors. The blue plates celebrating the four seasons come from Holland.
When the Coltons designed their spacious kitchen, they focused on how the room would function for family gatherings and other entertaining. Two sinks and two dishwashers along the same wall help speed cleanup chores.
The white cabinets combined with the darker wooden floors, island base and chairs create a pleasing color contrast that makes the room feel open without being sterile.
The lighter wood on the countertops also helps link the white cabinets and darker floor.
The rest of the home was also planned with careful thought. “The front entry was an important point for us,” Kathryn says. “We didn’t want guests to enter the home feeling too overwhelmed by size or glitz. We wanted the first impression to be warm and inviting. To achieve this, we chose to put the staircase in the middle area of the home.”
The home’s east-facing orientation is ideal for allowing early-morning sun rays to stream in through the front door.
The Coltons worked with their architect and builder to design a home with a squared, orderly, symmetric design. Kathryn wanted to make sure each room and element felt connected.
“The best advice we were given when building our house was to decide who the house was and then to keep it cohesive. Each part of the house should relate to the other. That makes it restful and comfortable,” Kathryn says.
French doors and windows line the dining room, which sits to one side of the entry. The room is simply furnished and filled with light.
“As for accessories, we don’t really do store-bought accessorizing. Rather, we often bring objects of nature into the house that interest us,” Kathryn says. The result is a low-key but effective display on the mantel of the fireplace in the dining room.
Squarely across from the dining room on the opposite side of the entry is the Coltons’ music room.
More large windows along with new and antique furniture, images of Prague from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and paintings by the Coltons’ daughter Lynne Millar grace the room.
The family room has a vaulted ceiling and wooden beams. “A floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace provides the logical place to gather,” Kathryn says.
From this spot, it’s easy to see how the entry to each room aligns squarely with the next, creating a calm sense of order in the home.
Their old farmhouse still holds a place of honor in the Coltons’ hearts. “We moved into our farmhouse when our children were young. It was perfect for us. The children had freedom to explore the meadow and creek, build treehouses and enjoy the peace and seclusion this property provided,” Kathryn says. “The house itself was built as a country farmhouse for city dwellers who could travel from Georgetown or Washington, D.C., to the country on weekends.”
That love for the home can be seen in the photo hanging above a chest in the family room.
“By the time we purchased the house, transportation had improved to make it a very reasonable commuting distance for full-time residents in the country to commute to the city,” says Kathryn about their old house. “The house had been added on to one section at a time. It was inviting and cozy, with children doubled up in bedrooms to make it work.”
“By the time we purchased the house, transportation had improved to make it a very reasonable commuting distance for full-time residents in the country to commute to the city,” says Kathryn about their old house. “The house had been added on to one section at a time. It was inviting and cozy, with children doubled up in bedrooms to make it work.”
The library in the Coltons’ new home has a European sensibility with its separate entrance. Its shelves are filled with the family’s collection of books. “We have lots of books because we read lots of books,” Kathryn says. “We like to surround ourselves with objects that speak to our interests and lifestyle. “
Just outside the library is what the Coltons call their pebble garden. “In designing the living spaces out of doors, we like small spaces for gardens that are low-maintenance,” Kathryn says.
Kathryn and Kent wanted this, their last home, to be one they could gracefully grow old in. To achieve this goal, they had the master bedroom, laundry room and kitchen put on the first floor to make it easy for them to access as they age. They also made sure the large closets on the different floors in the house aligned vertically so that the closets could be turned into an elevator later if needed.
The master bedroom also boasts its own fireplace.
The master bathroom reflects the style of the rest of the home with its large window above the tub.
Wooden cabinets warm up the light walls and floor in the vanity area.
Kathryn and Kent intentionally added special architectural elements into their home, such as differing ceiling heights between rooms.
Another example is this window in the corner of the third floor that overlooks the front lawn.
A mudroom is next to the laundry room and garage, at the side of the house. It’s a practical space that’s large enough to accommodate the entire family.
On designing their new home, seen here from the side, Kathryn says, “The first goal was to create enough bedrooms for each of our children to claim one room for themselves.”
What Kathryn and Kent Colton love most about their English manor is its ability to be a gathering place. “The house is often filled with family, friends and relatives. The house has not disappointed in its capacity to continue the life we enjoyed in the farmhouse,” Kathryn says. “It is a place to gather and be together comfortably.”
See more photos of this project
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
See more photos of this project
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Kent and Kathryn Colton
Location: McLean, Virginia
Size: Seven bedrooms, five bathrooms
The Coltons wanted the new home, built in 2006, to be large enough for their entire family to comfortably visit and stay during holidays.
“With the advent of grandchildren, we wanted more room so the family could have a place to gather,” Kathryn says. The couple ended up living overseas for three years after building their new home, but when they returned, they were eager to settle into the space.