Decorating & Design
December 21, 2020
This Georgian Home Serves Up Whimsical Style For Christmas
What do you get when you combine a history buff and a retailer with a keen curatorial eye? Only the perfect couple to tackle a historical home that’s so stately it has its own Wikipedia page. Cited as “an outstanding achievement in its day,” Tara Hall in Wellington, Prince Edward County, Ontario, was originally built as a family home in 1839, but it only functioned as one for a few short years. Since then, the sprawling Georgian house has served as a boarding school, a Masonic lodge, an antique shop and a bed-and-breakfast.
Homeowners Shelley Durnin and Ian Letts bought the house in 2011 and have since toiled to bring back its original grandeur. Shelley is the co-owner of home and gift store Kokito, in Bloomfield, Ontario, and the owner of Keep, in Picton, Ontario, while Ian is part of a commercial directing team, The Perlorian Brothers. Together they took on the renovation, painstakingly peeling back wallpaper, opening up partitions and turning ballrooms into comfortable salons and former maids’ quarters into guest rooms.
Tara Hall has seen 180 Christmases since the original owner, merchant Archibald McFaul, moved into the home with his family. In those early days, the owners were famous for hosting lavish parties, some rumored to have lasted several days. Under Shelley and Ian’s stewardship, the house continues to rise to the occasion. Scroll down to tour this heritage holiday home!
Florist Alison Westlake of Coriander Girl wove a live smilax vine garland up the railing for the holidays. “It gives a secret garden feel to any space and twirls around banisters beautifully,” she says.
Simple cedar swags were draped over the doorway for a classic Scandinavian feel. Instead of ornaments, Alison tucked feathery dried florals into the branches of a Christmas tree. “From the moment you enter, it’s obvious that Tara Hall was constructed for the purpose of welcoming guests,” says Ian. “At no time of the year is that more true than the holidays.”
Fairy lights dress up glass jars and demijohns. “Tara Hall is so perfect just as she is,” says Alison. “We didn’t want to upstage her beauty with over-the-top festive embellishments.”
“The house had only ever been painted once — that’s the green — and the patina is from years of wood smoke,” says Ian, pictured here with Shelley and their Australian shepherd, Mei-Zee, and their miniature golden doodle, Arthur, Duke of Wellington. “We never guessed the patina would be so consistent throughout or that it would be so beautiful,” adds Shelley. “I love that it shows the age of the house.”
An authentic brass Moroccan pendant in the the “casbah lounge” was found on a buying trip for one of Shelley’s stores. The unadorned evergreen trees have a Dickensian charm.
To create the floating floral arrangement in the dining room, Alison started by rolling chicken wire into two loose rectangular boxes. “We wanted this floral piece to feel cloud-like,” she says. Pluming grasses, dried cotton and preserved ruscus were added, layering the florals asymmetrically and building out. Lastly, she added asparagus fern spray-painted rose gold to pop against the white cotton and bleached ruscus.
Several salvaged antique tables create the dining room table, which can expand to seat 24. The tablecloth is made from Moroccan wedding blankets.
Flocked wallpaper from the 1960s decorates the walls in the morning room. Shelley’s prize Sögreni bicycle was custom made in Copenhagen.
A mix of curated finds creates a layered effect in the parlor. “With the rigid Georgian plan, you want to feel like there’s some softness around the edges, something playful,” says Ian.
In the principal bedroom, a Womb chair and faux fur accents are a modern take on glamour.
In the renovated principal bathroom, a white oak vanity and teal tiles have a tailored yet earthy look. The custom brass shower stall was inspired by one in The Bowery Hotel in New York.
An ornate chandelier balances the simple tub.
Johnny C. Y. Lam
House & Home December 2019