The House

BY MARNI ELYSE KATZ PHOTOGRAPHS BY RIKKI SNYDER

Tucked down a gravel road in a slow-paced southern New Hampshire town, Lauren Decatur’s clapboard New England cottage stands overlooking a farm, surrounded by horses, sheep, and cattle, with windows framing a perfect view of Mount Monadnock. She lives here with a puppy named Audrey—no relation to Hepburn, “but just as petite”—and from these rooms, she paints and sculpts magical, true-to-life animals out of raw wool, using notched needles, in a process called needle felting. This setting was serendipitous—she didn’t seek out a farm view—but she now finds comfort and inspiration in her good fortune. “Since I work primarily in wool,” she says, “it’s symbiotic that when I look out my windows, I see sheep.”

Decatur moved here just last fall, though she’s been living in the region for more than 10 years, having relocated from Massachusetts’ South Shore, where she raised her children. She likes that the area has a history of attracting writers, painters, and nonconformists, with a long-established artist’s retreat nearby serving as its cre- ative heart. She’s renting this house, but she’s made it her own. From the first moment you enter, it’s clear that an artist’s hand is at work here, not just in the sculptures and paintings placed throughout, but in the design of the rooms themselves. Decatur insists that her approach to decorating is really no approach at all. Rather, she says, “I just surround myself with the objects and colors I love. I don’t really think of it as ‘decorating.’” And yet her home is proof that the notion of an “artist’s eye”—that enviably innate ability to create spontaneous beauty—is real. Decatur favors a relaxed style influenced by an Old English sensibility, with muted colors (she’s used the same paint colors for 20 years) and well-loved pieces. “I like a comfortable, broken-in look,” she says. Most important, she regards her home as a living studio, so it’s essential that her living spaces also function as workspaces. “I spend 10 to 12 hours a day making art; I use the entire house as studio space in one way or another,” she says. Nevertheless, she’s always

THIS PAGE , TOP LEFT : A painting in one of Decatur’s signature antique frames depicts a chipmunk eating out of her hands; above it hangs a sign reading “Don’t Feed the Animals,” given to her by her daughter. “That image was on my business card for the longest time,” she says. “Chipmunks used to wander into my house looking for food.” On the floor, three of Decatur’s felted yellow ducklings ascend a tiny makeshift plank.

TOP RIGHT AND BOTTOM LEFT : White walls and furnishings give the bedroom a bright and sunny feel.

BOTTOM RIGHT : A sampling of Decatur’s signature felted animals. OPPOSITE : Built-in shelving holds art books and family photos, punctuated with natural curiosities, including a spikey bird’s skull displayed in a brass-rimmed glass box, framed bugs, and a winding length of snakeskin tucked under a cloche. They’re “all the things nature leaves behind,” Decatur says. This room is also home to several felted friends, including a frolicking bear and a shaggy Sebastopol goose.