An artist’s farmhouse shaped by forest and family

What makes this Bedford farmhouse memorable is less polish than personality. Artist Happy Menocal lives here with her family opposite the Mianus River Gorge Preserve, where old-growth forest, waterfalls and an old mineral quarry have shaped her sense of place since childhood. The oldest parts of the American Colonial house date to around 1710, with later Greek Revival additions facing the road. After five years of living with its draughts and quirks, the family worked with Cameron & Corrigan Architects and Mosolino Development to modernise it without sanding away its age.

Inside, the house sounds like an extension of Menocal’s studio practice: witty, handmade and deeply personal. In the dining room, once a 1960s greenhouse, she painted white ferns over lichen-green walls and made chandeliers from disposable aluminium lasagna trays with help from her mother, decorative painter Katharine Barnwell. The kitchen replaced an uninsulated 1960s room where the family used to wear coats through winter, while a former under-stairs cupboard became a reading nook at the suggestion of Menocal’s daughter.

There is plenty of design detail, but the best part is how little it feels staged. Children’s rooms are left free for doodles, paintings by friends hang throughout, and even the house’s odd steps, beams and uneven ceiling heights were treated as part of its charm. It’s a private home, not somewhere to visit, but worth reading for anyone who likes old houses with strong character and a clear sense of who lives in them.

Our summary of a story from Architectural Digest, published 1 October 2026. Read the original

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