The Marble Quarry Farmhouse: Honoring a Home Built from Vermont History
Photography by Stina Booth
The Marble Quarry Farmhouse: Honoring a Home Built from Vermont History
What do you do with a house that already has a story to tell? You LISTEN to it.
This farmhouse is one of those rare homes where the history is built right into the walls. Every mantel in the house is made of marble from the Dorset quarry, just down the road. The real thing, pulled from Vermont bedrock.
A little quarry history
If you've been to the Dorset Quarry on a summer afternoon, you know it as the best swimming hole around. But long before the cliff jumpers, it was the oldest commercial marble quarry in the United States, carved into Dorset bedrock in 1785. Dorset marble was used locally and also shipped to Washington, DC, New York City, and Montreal. The quarry closed after about a century of use.
So when I say these mantels came from the same stone that ended up in big-city buildings, I mean it. Walking into this house, you're surrounded by that history.
Photography by Stina Booth
Millwork, millwork, millwork
This home is full of it. Paneling, casings, trim, and details you just don't see in new construction. Our job was never to cover it up. It was to let it shine and in the case of the dining room, paint it in a beautiful light blue.
Every room has its own personality
One of my favorite things about this project is that no two rooms feel the same. Each one has its own mood, but the marble and millwork tie the whole house together. It feels collected, like it came together over generations, because it did.
Photography by Stina Booth
The family room: warm and cozy
This is the heart of the house, and we made it extra cozy. It's the room where everyone ends up on a winter night!
Photography by Stina Booth
Built-ins everywhere
This house has built-ins around every corner, and they're one of my favorite features. They hold books, collections, and everyday things, and they make every room feel finished and intentional.
Photography by Stina Booth
Old houses deserve a little love
The best thing you can do for a historic home is respect what's already there. This farmhouse didn't need to be reinvented. It needed someone to bring out its warmth and let its story come through.