Windfall

“Do you know what that term windfall means?” Actor and writer Jeffrey Doornbos is standing in the living room of the 1752 stone house he shares with his wife, clothing and interior designer Caroline Diani.  Under his feet, ancient wide-plank chestnut floorboards stretch throughout the entire main floor skirting a brick fireplace blackened from centuries of usage and large enough to prop up a spit and roast small game.  Venetian plaster walls, punctuated by small, deep-set, chestnut framed windows illuminate the cozy sitting area and offer views to the surrounding six acres of gardens, fields and barn.  Above him, hand hewn beams and a wood ceiling resemble the rich toffee brown hues of the chestnut floor, suggesting all the beams came from the same tree -or stand of trees- gracing the property three centuries ago. 

It was a visitor from the Columbia County Historical Society who explained the significance of the main floor decor. “He told me the planks must be the result of a windfall,” Doornbos explains.  “I knew the term —a windfall: like, suddenly you get a bunch of cash.  But he explained to me: When a storm would come through these parts, it would blow down trees and people would have so much wood here would have been a surplus and they couldn’t sell it.  It was a windfall of wood -it was like ‘congratulations!’ But then they had to figure out something to do with it.”

Photos by Deborah DeGraffenreid