Country Home

P.S. We’re thrilled to report that Country Home® magazine is available four times a year. As always, it’s on newsstands, and we’ve added a subscription option so you don’t miss a single issue. Visit magazines.com to sign up today. WHEN SPRING ARRIVES AT LAST, IT FEELS LIKE A LONG-AWAITED REWARD. As winter loosens its cold grip, the first green signs of spring predictably unfurl—along with our seasonal to-do lists. First things first: Throw open the windows and invite in some fresh breezes. Check. Next, peruse the listings for auctions, flea markets, and garage sales to plan pent-up collecting forays. Check. Get busy on those home and decorating projects. Check. Head out to the garden with spade in hand. Check! No matter what your checklist entails, we’re sure you will be inspired by…

WHILE RECENTLY PERUSING A vintage shop, Lindsea Dragomir spotted a French medallion. It was the perfect one-of-a-kind birthday gift for a friend who loves European antiques. Lindsea has become accustomed to this adrenaline rush. Her own antique vices include breadboards, baskets, and anything handmade with leather. “If it’s old and leather, it just has the most amazing patina over time—that’s a killer combination I can’t say no to,” she says. “And if I see a breadboard, my husband, Danny, looks at me and says, ‘I know you’re going to want that.’” Lindsea’s penchant for decorating her home with such antiques snowballed, and her love for delivering hard-to-come-by treasures to those who would cherish them is at the heart of the couple’s antiques shop, House of Harvest (houseofharvest.com). The offerings are a…

“We asked for history, but I don’t think we expected this much history,” PHILLIPA VAPORCIYAN SAYS WITH A LAUGH. SHE AND HUSBAND ARA HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR A SUMMER HOME IN THE CAPE COD community of Chatham, Massachusetts. Ara grew up visiting the area with his family and wanted to layer on more memories with their children. They learned a beloved local landmark called The Sail Loft was for sale and immediately knew it would be perfect. “It was everything we wanted—historical, true to Chatham with a Cape feel, and nothing new or modern,” Phillipa says. The couple bought the home in 2017 with promises to the previous owners to be caring custodians. “We have every intention of preserving it,” Ara says. Built in 1858, the house had been a sail-making…

aNYONE WHO’S MADE THE JOURNEY TO ROUND TOP, TEXAS, KNOWS IT’S A UNIQUE PLACE TO COLLECTORS; however, it’s more like a mecca. Situated halfway between Austin and Houston, this town of 90 residents hosts the twice-yearly, 14-day Round Top antiques fair. Known worldwide for its wealth of vintage, antique, and crafted wares, the fair lures more than 50,000 people to Round Top every six months. A few lucky ones will stay in Paige and Smoot Hull’s No. 1450 rental cottage. A longtime fair shopper and vintage repurposer herself, Paige introduced found treasures—farming implements, antique finds, and on-the-cheap scores—into the cottage for a look she calls modern vintage. The sofa, for instance, is a castoff from Paige’s mom (dressed in a $50 Target slipcover). Part of the ceiling is sheathed in salvaged…

EVERYONE IN CHERRY VALLEY KNOWS WHEN CHARLE-PAN DAWSON’S LILACS ARE IN BLOOM: THE NEWS IS LITERALLY BLOWING ON THE WIND. FOR SEVERAL WEEKS IN MAY AND JUNE, THIS SMALL NEW YORK TOWN IS PERFUMED WITH THE SCENT WAFTING FROM HER ORCHARD OF 150 lilac shrubs. After a long winter, the cottony clouds of blue, purple, pink, and white flowers are a welcome sight too. “It’s like a spring awakening,” Charle-Pan says. When she and her husband, Dana, bought the property 10 years ago, they inherited a lilac legacy. The previous owner, nurseryman George Alverson, had amassed a large collection of hardy European and Canadian lilacs. Charle-Pan, who had never grown the shrubs before, spent time walking the land with Alverson, learning about the plants and how to care for them. As she…

Monday through Friday, this 1895 farmhouse takes it nice and easy, MOSTLY DOZING ON 140 SPRAWLING ACRES IN THE TEXAS COUNTRYSIDE. IT HAS SOME COMPANY—CARETAKERS WHO OVERSEE the property, a few head of cattle, throngs of whitetail deer—but it leads a quiet existence during the workweek. It might be saving its strength: Come Friday night, one car after another coasts along the curved driveway, barely braking before the passengers pile out of the vehicles, understandably happy for their stay at a weekend home designed for comfort and relaxation. The crowd includes the property owners, their grown children, an ever-increasing number of grandkids, and any friends who want to tag along—most making the 90-minute trek from Houston nearly every week. It’s all in the name of hightailing it out of the city…