Giverney in the Catskills

In 2015, when Anne Hall first encountered her historic 1783 farmstead, she didn’t see a stone house that needed major renovations, or 35 acres that wanted planting, or even the attached modernist barn-cum-studio washed in light waiting for makers to make some creative hay. “I just saw one huge canvas,” she remembers.

Hall admits she has a hard time doing anything on a small scale. Handcrafted from local bluestone and ancient hardwood, the house and surrounding 155-acre farm seemed to offer enough creative and logistical challenges to capture her imagination. On entering the stone house, Hall recognized the original builder’s detailed handiwork immediately—even 250 years later. “I was so excited, I had to touch the house,” she remembers. “I slapped my hand down on the 18-inch deep window sill and was completely delighted by the solid slab of rock.”