Boutique Vermont Friends Farmhouse Fully Remodeled

Fully remodeled farmhouse in the heart of the Vermont Green Mountains. Rural country dirt road. Gourmet kitchen. Theater room. Game room. Fiber optic WiFi. Idyllic. Peaceful. Sunsets. Huge porch. Historic Purinton farmhouse. Lovingly adorned with real antique furniture. Hotel sheets and towels. Restored clawfoot soaking tub. Fine finish carpentry. Birch floors. Birdseye maple cabinetry. Chestnut wainscot. Hand-hewn timbers. Classic country home on dirt road. 100% of our cleaning fees pay locals. The space A boutique farmhouse experience. Historical, fresh, and fun. This place has artisan craftsmanship and brings in modern comforts of today. We wanted to create a practical accommodation with tasteful design features. You will really feel the history of Vermont in a beautiful rural setting, yet only 15 minutes away to conveniences. And fiber optic internet service with whole-whose WiFi mesh — which means no dead spots! There is also a Verizon cellular booster. Nearby crystal clear streams, waterfalls, skiing, hiking, biking, fishing, boating, vineyards, orchards, maple sugaring, cideries, brewers, artisan painters, glass blowers, cheese makers, ice creameries, and culinary delights. Admire the fine carpentry in this home with original repurposed hand-hewn timbers, birch and chestnut wainscot on the walls restored to a beautiful warmth. The original pine plank bedroom floorboards have been carefully refinished to a buttery glow. The gourmet kitchen with Italian-designed Forno appliances will satisfy the discerning foodie among your crowd. The six-burner gas stovetop and electric convection oven will ignite your culinary skills! And if cooking is not your thing check out the nearby eateries. Enjoy a warm soak in the over-sized sparkling clawfoot tub refinished from the property's cottage next door. Large windows allow sunlight to pour into every room. Skylights on the huge porch beckon you to relax a little longer. Take in the views off the south covered porch with your morning coffee, a cold cider, or say “cheers” with your favorite wine. The eleven Hubbardton Forge light fixtures, hand crafted in Vermont, create an ambiance that beckons a reminiscent remembrance of the traditional blacksmithing with clean modern lines. Five of these sconces are placed exactly where original gaslight lamps once hung. The other exterior sconces are on our porch. The two vanity lights are Hubbardton Forge and dimmable. The heavy glass globes were designed to mimic dewdrops in the field. New spaces accented by rustic, historical features create character and ambiance. Period-appropriate polished chrome plumbing fixtures compliment original claw-foot tub and original wall sink. These were refinished to a brilliant white. An eclectic collection of real antique furniture, and housewares smartly appoint the home to assure a delightful appeal to the discerning eye. Our kitchen has more natural light than you can imagine and provides a gourmet touch with Italian-designed Forno appliances. Birdseye maple cabinetry hand-crafted by a local builder showcases artistic touches and wood-grain details that cause you to pause and admire. The handmade fireclay English Shaw sink stands out as the island’s centerpiece while the Italian-made water faucet sparkles above with bold confidence. The 16 foot uninterrupted marbled-quartz counter provides a bar for your morning coffee and distant views to West Hill at sunset, or to host a buffet line for your dinner guests. Our theater room has a 90” high definition TV with Yamaha surround sound. The green leather chesterfield sofas pop out as art of their own when you settle in to watch a movie in the terraced-seating. With an older home, we intentionally decided to avoid air conditioning in the spirit of sustainability and the screened windows offer ample breezes, just watch out for those thunderstorms! Portable fans are provided in every bedroom. Sometimes you might hear a furry friend also trying to make their home at Friends’ Farmhouse, or an insect wants to be a pest. These are normal occurrences in the country. Let us know if a pest is too persistent! We created an authentic Vermont experience to enjoy the original settlement of an 1880s Purinton home. Whether you want to get away to the Green Mountains, enjoy a destination ski trip, host an intimate wedding reception, celebrate an academic achievement and graduation, or escape to a country respite of the busy city — Friends’ Farmhouse delivers. Guest access The entire home is for guest use, except the basement closet and mechanical room areas are for owners and technicians only. Curiosity is good, but not always. 🙂 Shoes are nice, but not inside. Enjoy the brand new yellow birch floors and original pine plank floors with your shoes off. Other things to note Please note all housekeeping fees go to pay our Director of First Impressions. Specialty plumbing fixtures, fireclay farmhouse sink, and real, period-appropriate, antique furniture. Being in a country setting, your stay may be visited by a friendly insect, bird, or furry friend. Let us know if any pests are trying to make their home at Friends' Farmhouse. There are irregularities in some of the bedroom floors, slopes, and gaps between floorboards. These character features were saved to experience. If you have vertigo or dizziness, please note that there are staircases up to the main bedrooms and down to the theater room - please, watch your step! Friends’ Farmhouse is a boutique farmhouse. The simple architectural lines accentuate practical functionality of a Quaker home built in 1880s Vermont Green Mountains. Structural Engineer, Artisan Engineering, collaborated with the architectural building designer, with a Designer, and builder, Mount Pleasant Carpentry, put together a plan to restore the home. The team of four carpenters provided a combined experience of over 130 years. Project planning began in December 2018, when the owners purchased the home from the family. It was Prudence’s grandparents’, Frederick and Anna Wells, who purchased the property in 1963. The original home is speculated to have been built in 1877-1880 by Gabriel and Emily Purinton, a prominent Quaker family whose ancestor, Chase Purinton, settled the Town of Lincoln. Descendants of this Purinton family still reside in the Lincoln community today. The property was settled as early as 1840, only the barn and corn crib remain from the original property structures. Little did John and Prudence know that this project would become a five and a half year laborious vision to bring to fruition — a reimagining of Quaker charm with modern conveniences. The demo crew, comprised of the owners and their church friends and family, started in May of 2019 with the removal of asbestos siding that had been placed over original clap board. Lead paint was also scraped off original clapboards. Asbestos was removed and disposed of in accordance with state regulations. Original floating brick chimneys were removed, CMU block chimneys were removed, a second-level deck was removed, the wrap-around porch was removed, original plaster was removed, lath was pulled off exterior walls, and old insulation was pulled out handful, by handful and bagged up. The original chestnut wainscot was carefully removed, yellow birch flooring was removed, and original pine plank boards were taken up and all items were saved in the onsite barn. The chestnut was repurposed after the builder planed and beaded the wood to reinstall as wainscot in the study room. Yellow birch flooring was planed and beaded to create repurposed boards for wainscot in the living room, mudroom entryway, and primary bathroom. Original pine plank bedroom flooring and trim wood was sandblasted to remove paint and a family member, hour-by-hour, hand sanded trim boards and original jointed bead doors, gently scraping paint from grooves. Original written marks on a cabinet door were saved showing children’s height measurements. The fine carpentry and tasteful repurposing of original woods coalesced with modern selections to tastefully accentuate artisanal skills of the craft worker. The original finish carpentry boards were saved and repurposed in the original bedrooms. Original door hinge hardware were saved, paint was stripped, and oil applied. All door hinges in the home are either repurposed from the original home or authentically sourced period hinges of Eastlake foundry cast design; likely from Buffalo New York because these metal hinges were produced there in the late 1800s. The daughter of Frederick and Anna Wells, who grew up in the home from the age of nine, has lived next door since 1984. She also helped the demo crew by pulling hundreds of original “cut” nails from boards and lath. Original cut nails were soaked in vinegar to remove oxidation and then repurposed to fasten the new shiplap boards on the porch ceiling, a superb idea of the builder. Hand-hewn timbers were saved from the original cellar which were sourced from another structure at the time of 1877 construction. These special timbers, valuable on their own right, were carefully selected by the owner and builder and repurposed as character-defining accents on to create appealing visual effect, in particular as collar beams in the primary bedroom with indirect LED lights that illuminate the sloped ceiling above while also casting angular shadows to admire while drifting off to sleep. Engineers and experienced experts recommended to replace the foundation. The owners hired a knowledgeable father-and-son team, well known in the State, to hydraulically jack up the house to excavate a new foundation. The Stego impermeable membrane system was used to protect the basement floor along with a complete foundation perimeter drain to daylight. This required a significant investment unanticipated in the original plan. The igneous field stones from the original foundation, very heavy, were saved to repurpose along the exterior as a façade on three of the reconstructed basement foundation walls of the west section. The mason carefully selected, hand washed, and puzzle-pieced together an appealing stonework feature for all to admire accentuating angular shapes and color hues which also sheds water away from the home. The stonework is capped with a custom concrete detail designed by the designer. The new home retained about 80% of the original floor-plan to remain authentic to the farmhouse design. While some subcontractors literally voiced their thoughts that this project was a “@&$! crazy idea”, the owners persevered to continue ahead with the plan because the historical value was more important to save, than destroy. A completely new electrical system carefully engineered to accommodate extra loads often found in Vermont, such as space heaters, was installed. Using the latest Leviton panel board system allows for flexibility and the most advanced overcurrent protection devices for a single-family dwelling. Energy-efficient LED lighting systems were installed. New design features incorporate eleven modern blacksmith light fixtures from Hubbardton Forge, made in Vermont. Five of these new light fixtures were placed exactly where the original gas lamps existed in the bedrooms and hallway. Other vintage glass industrial lamps with silver metal cages were sourced from a Colorado antique dealer, Oil City Merchants, to provide an appealing illumination and decor over the kitchen island. Kitchen cabinets were made from birdseye maple in traditional Shaker design. Marvin Ultimate windows, metal clad aluminum exterior, with clear pine interior matched the original window design, but now energy efficient. For the window finish carpentry box casement design was chosen with shaker sill “flame” wood grain accents were carefully selected and cabinet joinery methods were used to showcase the pine wood beauty. Windows were selected to withstand a demanding environment due to heat and humidity. Three original windows were repurposed on the exterior front porch and original glass was reglazed into the original sashes to emulate authentic wave and imperfect glass charm while bringing a practical windbreak to the front porch door. Two skylights were integrated into the porch to allow more light into the living and dining rooms, feedback from the former resident explained that the home was “too dark.” Light now pours into the home, in particular from west-facing windows in the new kitchen. There is not another kitchen with more natural light of this time period. Period-appropriate plumbing fixtures from Close to Home were sourced. The clawfoot tub was refinished by Spot On Tub repair, a family company who took the original broken claw foot damaged during a lift move, and repaired with a special brazing weld to reinstall the original cast iron foot. The tub was originally found on the property in the next-door mother-in-law’s cottage which was built for Asa and Fannie Purinton, Gabriel’s parents. The claw foot tub now stands gleaming white with an exterior pearlized finish, a striking compliment to the primary bathroom. The first floor bathroom wall-mount sink was repurposed and refinished to a sparkling white polish with reproduction polished chrome cross handles. In-floor radiant heat provides steady warmth on cold winter months for all three levels using propane gas and Taco controller. The insulation package is a hybrid of rigid foam, foil, spray foam, dense-pack cellulose, and was provided by New Leaf Design energy consulting and in compliance with State energy requirements. New septic system was engineered and designed per State regulations and installed using the mound method. Projects like this are more than building a home, it is about preserving a piece of history to acknowledge the generations of ambitious people who worked before us to clear timber, till fields, and persevere to survive in a difficult environment.