Housewarming Deborah Ehrlich

—HOUSEWARMING—

Deborah Ehrlich

A glassware designer finds her light in a historic Hudson Valley home.

Deborah Ehrlich DEBORAH EHRLICH’S attraction to Accord, New York, came from above—literally: She was on a plane flying over New York when she noticed the natural beauty of the Hudson Valley. Soon after that flight, she drove up to explore the bucolic region and decided to relocate from northern New Jersey. More than 20 years later, she still finds it “beautiful every single day.”

Ehrlich’s home is quite unique: a stone house from the 1700s with a white clapboard addition built in the 1800s. “It’s situated in a beautiful place, where you could easily imagine you’re in a different century—or any century. It could be now; it could be the future. It’s very timeless,” she says.

“I was given the advice to do the renovations very

Ehrlich designed the chairs for her 12-foot dining table, a gem she found at a local antiques shop.

slowly. See where the light comes in and see where you want to sit,” she says. “I started renovations, but I maintained the level of restraint where, if I uncovered something, I left it to be seen. So I didn’t really cover anything up. It’s almost like an archaeological dig.”

With ample windows of antique blown glass and no interior walls (Ehrlich removed them to better see the bones of the house), the ground floor is open and the light that filters through is “very like Vermeer,” she explains. This quality is particularly important to her as a designer renowned for her handblown crystal glassware. “Light is really what I’m drawn to. Glass is really about light.” In fact, her home’s historic windows have inspired much of her work.

Ehrlich tailored her décor and furnishings to her needs, with an upstairs that’s “all white duvets and feather pillows. It’s completely for relaxation.” Downstairs is for working and entertaining, with a 12-foot-long wooden table found at a local antiques shop and a large fireplace. “It can almost expand and contract with the amount of people,” she says. “It gets absolutely crushed at Thanksgiving.”

“It’s relaxing because everything is in its authentic state,” she says. “It’s a place where people walk in and immediately feel at home.” —Natalie Chomet