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HERSAM ACORN NEWSPAPERS

Paul Johnson photo Special Section to: The Valley Gazette

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The Stratford Star

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The Amity Observer

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The Trumbull Times

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The News

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• March 5, 2009 •

Hersam Acorn Newspapers •

It all began with

One room by Joanne Greco Rochman When Easton resident and designer Sara Hopkins of Sara Hopkins Interiors was invited to design a room for a showcasehouse tour in Redding, she had the option of choosing any room she wanted in a new $4.6 million home. The house had been built specifically for the 2005 tour — a charity fund-raising event to aid abused children. At first Sara couldn’t decide she entered the dining room she knew that was the room her magic, the dining room

Paul Johnson photos

“It was a designer’s dream project,” said Sara with enthusiasm, recalling the excitement of the challenge. “At first, I was worried that doing the dining room was going to cost me a fortune, but Bevan Funnell, an English furniture company I did business with, wanted to be a part

This sumptuous dining room was designed by Sara Hopkins, as was the guest room on the cover.

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which room to choose, but when with its stunning panoramic view, for her. By the time she’d worked had become a focal point of the house. Visitors to the showcase “oohed” and “aahed,” and by show’s end, the owners of the house not only purchased all the dining room furniture and furnishings but hired Sara to design the rest of the house.

MARCH 2009

VOL III, ISSUE 3

Special Section to: The Valley Gazette, The Oxford Gazette, The Stratford Star, The Milford Mirror, The Amity Observer, The News, The Trumbull Times, Fairﬁeld Sun, The Huntington Herald, The Monroe Courier, and The Easton Courier.

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of the project and worked with me to provide the furniture. Unfortunately, because of today’s economy, the company no longer sells to the United States, and the dining room furniture, which the company built for this show house, Kinderwood, was the last of its kind. “I also had the pleasure of working with a rug dealer in Thornwood, N.Y., the Rug and Home Gallery, which not only supplied the rug for the dining room but ultimately sold all the rugs for this beautiful estate, to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars,” Sara said. “By the time I was finished designing and decorating just the dining room for this showcase, the total came to $175,000.” The spacious dining room, with its breathtaking views of autumn foliage, inspired Sara to build upon fall colors, using reds and golds on the faux-painted walls and choosing rich, golden-mahogany furniture. The magnificent antique Persian Kashan carpet with its vibrant jewel colors was the foundation for the selection of Cowtan & Tout’s red-and-gold-silk window fabric, which features a dolphin design. A stunning blue-striped silk fabric from Kravet covers the Chippendale chairs. “One of the biggest challenges was that the coffered ceiling with three cross beams ended up being six inches lower than the house plans indicated, so we had to make sure the chandelier’s end-cap was exactly the same size as the cross beam, and that the chandelier’s chain was the correct length,” she said. That the dining-room furniture arrived two days before the tour also caused some understandable anxiety.

Created for a designer showhouse, the dining room became the ﬁrst of an 18 room project.

While Sara and her partner Jeffrey Petrossian, also of Easton, were obviously thrilled with the opportunity to design the entire house, they had their work cut out for them. The owners gave Sara only five months to complete the project, which included integrating furnishings and accessories from the owners’ previous home. The owners were also out

of state. “We understood that when the owners returned, they wanted to walk into a house completely finished and without any workers still on the scene,” said Sara, adding that they knew no excuses would be acceptable. What made this part of the project so challenging was transporting two pianos to the

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Hopkins continued on page 9

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new house. “This was your heart-in-yourthroat move,” explained Sara, adding that one of the pianos was a white baby grand, autographed by none other than Liberace. The designers took photos of each room in the former house for a record of all the contents. Then they made detailed floor

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• March 5, 2009 •

Hersam Acorn Newspapers •

Chatfield Farms’ winning ways Celebrated by residents and building industry alike by Robin E. Glowa In today’s economy, home buyers and sellers need to know they are making the most effective buying or selling decisions. Buyers who are in the market for active-living communities are particularly interested in a high level of quality with desirable amenities for a fair price. Wyndham Homes, builder of communities for residents 55 years or older, has garnered a reputation for creating exceptional living environments. In 2007, Wyndham Homes developed Chatfield Farms, a luxurious resort-style, active-adult community in Beacon Falls. Since the comunity’s opening, Wyndham Homes has sold 54 houses at Chatfield Farms, with nine selling in just the past few months. This is a spectacular success story in light of the current real estate market. Jay Metcalfe, vice president of Wyndham Homes, says, “In a very slow economy, consumer confidence is a big issue. We have created a selling-solution program to help buyers with the sale of their existing home. The Home to Home program guarantees the sale of an existing home. Wyndham Homes will obtain appraisals on the home and help stage it for a quicker sale. If the home has not sold by the closing on the buyer’s home at Chatfield Farms, Wyndham Homes carries the mortgage for up to one year. According to Jay, “About 25% of the buyers have used the program, with most selling their homes before their new Chatfield Farms homes were finished.” Wyndham also hosts Meet the Neighbor events at Chatfield Farms, providing an opportunity for prospective home buyers to mingle with current residents. By visiting with

The family room of the Wyndham Homes Cambridge model represents the quality of this award-winning home.

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residents in their homes, buyers can get a clear sense of the community as well as view all the wonderful details of the finished home. What a pleasant and reassuring way to promote consumer confidence! Chatfield Farms features a delightful blend of maintenance-free, amenity-rich living. The beautifully scenic and serene community is nestled within bucolic surroundings, including three miles of walking trails and a private lake. All the grass cutting, landscaping, leaf and snow removal, trash removal, and recycling is taken care of for the residents, maintaining a pristine, wellmanicured yet natural setting. Three models of homes are available for sale at Chatfield Farms — the Andover, Brookfield and Cambridge. All models come with two-car garages, full basements and main-floor master bedrooms. The base price of each home starts at $402,000. The purchase price includes an allowance to use with the unique Flexibuild Home System. Options and upgrades, such as marble fireplace surrounds, skylights, French doors, and hardwood flooring, are offered, allowing each homeowner to customize a home with warm and distinctive details. With the Flexibuild Home System, buyers can create a gourmet kitchen with highend appliances, island sinks and additional cabinets for storage. Flexibuild allows homeowners to choose exterior features and finishes, such as clapboard, shakes, brick or stone siding, as well as garden windows, sunrooms, screened porches or

and away the nicest development in the area. It’s really a lovely community,” Ed says. “They’ve done whatever they can to promote social activities; any suggestions we’ve offered they’ve acted upon. If anything happens to go wrong, they jump on it right away. Overall, it has been a very pleasant experience.”

The Andover model at Chatfield Farms received the Best of 55+ Housing award.

decks. All features are interchangeable with each of the models. The extraordinary quality and workmanship of Chatfield Farms homes recently garnered several prestigious awards from the Home Building Industry, which recognizes high-quality homes, products and services in the Connecticut residentialconstruction industry. Voted Community of the Year, Chatfield Farms and Wyndham Homes were also recognized as the Best 55+ Community in Connecticut, Best 55+ Home, Best Home Feature, and Best Construction Technology for the Flexibuild System. In addition, Chatfield’s adaptable kitchens and master-bath designs were awarded Best Interior Home Feature and Wyndham Home’s Connie Lauterbach was honored as the New Home Salesperson of the Year.

But the most compelling testimony comes from the homeowners themselves. When Ed and Irene Mulligan went searching for a community, they found themselves immediately drawn to Chatfield Farms. Ed says, “We were very impressed with the construction, the land, the infrastructure, the way it’s laid out. We had a large home in Trumbull on more than two acres. I liked the privacy factor at Chatfield Farms; I don’t like living in a fishbowl. Our plot is on a dead-end street, set up high, and we enjoy beautiful views of the valley.” Ed and Irene have many positive feelings about their experience with Wyndham Homes. Ed works in the building industry himself, and he is particularly enthusiastic about the quality of the homes. He notes, “You can see they have done their homework. The quality of the materials used in the homes is excellent. This is far

The Mulligans utilized the Flexibuild system and were impressed with the uniqueness of this option. Ed notes, “With the amount of flexibility in every area, it becomes a custom home ... our home. You can do exactly what you want in every room. My wife really loves our sunroom. Even though the three models are the same, there is not a single home here that looks like another because of the customizing available. Overall, it’s been a great experience,” says Ed. “Everyone has been very accommodating and professional, and we are thrilled with the results!”

DETAILS Chatfield Farms Sales Center 639 Skokorat Road Beacon Falls, Conn. 06403 203-723-7366 Open Daily 10 to 5 WyndhamHomes.com chatfieldfarms.net

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• March 5, 2009 •

Hersam Acorn Newspapers •

Bedtime stories

You’re sure to find the ideal bed at Leonards by G. Lisa Sullivan Jeff Jenkins is going to have a great story to tell his grandchildren someday. The owner of Leonards — a 75-year-old fine quality antiques shop and home- furnishings manufacturer and retailer based in Westport, Conn., and Seekonk, Mass., — boasts a long list of celebrity clients: Bill Cosby, Tom Cruise, Joanne Woodward, Martha Stewart, Rudy Giuliani, and Ralph Lauren are just a few of the famous names that top the company’s customer list. However, Jeff added a new name to his list recently, one with which most every American and much of the rest of the world is familiar. Does the name Barack Obama ring a bell? Sweet Dreams It all began when Michael Smith, the Californiabased interior designer that the Obamas are said to have chosen to decorate their private residence in the White House, made a phone call to Jeff, looking for a 19th-Century American bed for his clients, who, he said, would soon be moving to Washington, D.C. “While I don’t remember his exact words, Michael asked for something elegant and understated, but impressive,” Jeff recalled. “He wanted an American bed with tall posts and provisions for a canopy frame ... nothing too elaborate.”

Known for its ﬁne antiques, Leonards recently shipped a bed similar to this one to the White House.

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After reviewing Leonards comprehensive Web site, the well-known interior designer, who also has a celebrity following, requested that photos of several beds be sent to him. “We have the largest collection of pre-Civil War beds available anywhere, and consequently, we are considered the ‘go-to’ source for beds,” Jeff said. “We have been working with Michael Smith’s firm for five years, and they buy from us when they have a call for something unique and of particularly fine quality.” Since antique beds are typically smaller than contemporary beds, they are often altered to accommodate today’s bedding. At Leonards’ Seekonk workshop, the bed chosen for the Obamas was adapted to king-size, using antique tiger maple 86inch-high posts topped with acorn finials — a symbol of new ideas, according to Jeff. “The original bedposts were fashioned from tiger maple in New Jersey or Pennsylvania in the early 19th Century, and a paneled headboard was finished to

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match the original finish in warm honey tones,” he said.

at 1026 Post Road East, or visit the company’s Web site.

size pre-1850 antique beds, making them comfortable for modern-day use.”

White House Bound

The Leonards story began in 1933, when Lester and Hazel Leonard started a small antiques shop in Seekonk, according to Jeff. “It soon gained a reputation as one of the few workshops that could resize beds and restore all types of antique furniture,” he said. Jeff’s father, Bob Jenkins, became the manager of the shop in 1957, and Jeff worked there while in college.

Many of the beds are made of tiger maple, mahogany and cherry, and customers can mix and match such posts as ball and claw, pencil post and Empire acanthus. The choice of finials includes feathercarved urn, ball-top urn, pineapple, egg, melon, and acorn. “We carry reproduction headboards and footboards to coordinate with the antique posts,” Patty explained, “and we offer our clients a large selection of styles, from simple, traditional country to more elaborate English style beds ... there’s something for almost every taste.”

Once the bed was assembled, Jeff and his crew put it on a truck that left Seekonk at midnight for a timely delivery the next morning to a warehouse in D.C. Sammy Russell, longtime driver for Leonards, will probably have some stories to tell his grandchildren, too! “Selling a bed to an occupant of the White House has been a tremendous kick, and has generated quite a stir among our employees,” Jeff said. “Over the years I’ve purchased beds that former Presidents had supposedly slept in, but selling one to the current President is a first for us!”

In 1988, Jeff purchased Leonards from his father, and subsequently expanded into several locations and online ordering. “Three of my sons — Aaron, Andre and Jeff Jr. — continue the family tradition as apprentices in the shop,” Jeff said. Room Service

Of course, you don’t have to be a celebrity — or the United States President — to purchase an antique or reproduction bed, or any other fine furnishings from Leonards. You can simply stop by the Westport store

First and foremost, the store carries a large selection of antique and reproduction beds, according to Patty Jaumin, Westport store manager. “What makes Leonards unique is our ability to custom-

The store also offers a trade-in policy on its antique furniture; it will take back a client’s custom-fitted Leonards bed after five years for a full-store credit. Throughout the store, antique and reproduction pieces are arranged in small bedroom vignettes, with the various items dif-

Bedtime continued on page 8

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Bedtime continued from page 7 ferentiated by colored price tags — white for antique and blue for reproduction. “We sell more antique beds than reproduction,” Patty said, “although many people prefer reproduction pieces, particularly those with young children or very busy, active lifestyles.”

“Most of the bedding, which we feature on the beds, is traditional in style and light in color, like ivory or white, to complement the wood tones,” Patty said. Bedspreads, blanket covers and duvets are all available, and some can be ordered with monograms and Leonards is expert at customizing antique beds to accommodate today’s bedding. different color trims. For customers wanting to shop at home, the company’s Web site offers a large selection of antique and reproduction furniture that can be shipped virtually anywhere. Even, it would seem, the White House.

G. Lisa Sullivan photos

Leonards also carries antique and reproduction chests of drawers, bed steps, dining-room tables and chairs, nightstands, bedside tables, coffee tables, end tables, and sea chests. Patty and the rest of the Leonards interior-design staff help customers choose bedding, linens, custom bed hangings, mirrors, lamps, artwork, and a host of other accessories for their homes.

For further information, call 203-222-7031 or ,toll free, 877-898-7031; or visit the company’s Web site at leonardsdirect.com.

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Hopkins continued from page 3 plans for every room of the three-level, 18-room estate, as well as the five tiered terraces and patios. They met once or twice a week with the owners before they left Connecticut for the winter. Then Sara and her partner designed each room, blending the original furniture with the new. “We lived and breathed this project for five months,” said Sara. “I still look back at this assignment and am amazed at the organization that was involved. Of course, I patted myself on the back, but it was quite a project. Everyone we worked with from suppliers to movers was wonderful,” she said. “The owners are especially gracious people. We still stay in touch, and every holiday I receive a card from them telling me that they are just as much in love with their home now as they were then.” As manager and developer of showrooms to the interior-design trade, Sara has more than 20 years of experience. Clients value her knowledge of color, style, and placement as well as her competence in creating designs that reflect individual lifestyles. That her attention to detail is equal to her reputation for getting her projects completed on time is respected in the industry. As she herself noted, she “has a reverence and understanding of historical and modern times in the world of architecture and design.” Her work ranges from designing single rooms to multimillion-dollar estates. You may see some of Sara’s other projects by visiting her Web site at sarahopkinsinteriors.com.

Five months later, the owners returned to a fully furnished, elegant home.

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THE I JEWELRY I BOX ■

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Selling your jewelry by Joe Brandt

It’s easy enough to take your jewelry to several places to see who will give you the best deal, but a jewelry-buying event will usually be a temporary situation, where you won’t have a chance to return. Before you take advantage of a mail-in offer, you must know what price someone else will pay for your jewelry, otherwise you have no way to determine if their offer is a good one or not. Sometimes cash incentives are offered, but how much would you be willing to sacrifice in order to get cash instead of a check? 10%? 20%? Where would you draw the line?

It seems as if everywhere you look, there’s an offer to buy your unwanted jewelry — pawn shops and jewelers, advertised “buying events,” mail-in offers — and each promises to pay top dollar! Fueled by the current state of the economy and the high price of gold, we are faced with a bewildering range of choices of where to sell jewelry. What’s best? The bottom line is, before you sell your jewelry, you should always have multiple offers, if for no other reason than your peace of mind. (Although there are several other ways to dispose of unwanted jewelry, the easiest and often most practical method is to sell it outright to a merchant.)

Q: My ex-boyfriend paid almost $800 for a diamond tennis bracelet two years ago, but when I went to sell it both offers I received were so low they made me angry. Is there any place I can go to get a decent offer?

A: Probably not. Since the offers were very low, I assume the bracelet is not suitable for resale in a store. The diamonds may be of poor quality, and not ones the buyers could re-use. The retail price paid was based on many factors: gold, diamonds, labor, and mark-ups at both wholesale and retail levels. In all probability, the offers you received are for the gold content alone (14kt is less than 60% gold), and do not reflect the money paid for everything else, the value of which (for this purpose) is now zero. Q: I had considered selling an old gold pocket watch that had belonged to my grandfather, but a jeweler I showed it to said that since it wasn’t working, he could only give me “scrap” value for the gold, which I thought was very little. The price to repair it was far more than his offer to buy it, and the price he said he might pay for it

A: I am in favor of keeping heritage jewelry, especially when it could be passed on to the next generation. I think the sentimental value of your grandfather’s watch would probably exceed the “value” as an object, so I advise you to keep the watch (and have it repaired if your finances permit) as a genuine family heirloom. The joy you will get from using it will far exceed its “weight in gold.” Joe Brandt is a local resident and owner of J.L. Brandt Company, in business since 1928. He is a consultant to retail jewelers and provides advisory service to the public. He is the author of the book Protecting the Family Jewels.

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HOME I OF THE I MONTH ■

LOCATION: Built in the 1930s, this home in Weston began as a fox-hunting lodge. PROPERTY: Set on one-and-a-half level acres, the house has an appealing background of mature trees, and its professional landscaping is complemented by stone terraces. HOUSE: Completely updated, there is a living room with brick fireplace, light-filled dining room, a large, eat-in kitchen, five bedrooms, three full baths and one half bath. The master suite has a sitting room with fireplace, a walk-in closet and renovated bath. There is a detached guest suite with a full bath. GARAGE: One-car. PRICE: $769,000. REALTY: Camelot. Agent: Carrie Shea, 203-226-3568. Photography: Wayne Ratzenberger.

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