Special Focus: Connecticut Kitchen Design
In this 6,000-square-foot New Canaan house, four kids—ranging from early teens to college age—orbited, awkwardly, around a relatively dark, tight space. Designer-architect-builder Kristina Larson recalls that the room “was almost operating as a galley kitchen.”
Photography / Jane Beiles
Perfect for a cold day wish-list: 20 cozy and comfortable window nook designs
Connecticut homeowner Kiersha Wheeler reports that their breakfast nook has been particularly well used this past year. “We have two high school boys and one of them is always found here during school hours,” she says. She credits Larson for making the space truly multifunctional, with a mini-fridge, drawers, television, and roll-out printer.
Photography / Jane Beiles
A Family’s Barn Restoration Project That’s Benefitting the Larger New Canaan Community
Kristina joined forces with master timber framer Renard Thompson of Bring Back Barns to rebuild the dilapidated barn using salvageable pieces and dead and dying trees from her property. The timber was hand-hewn, and then wooden pegs were used to hold the frame together. Wood that wasn’t needed for the barn was used for firewood, a friend’s heating system incinerator, the woodworking classes at New Canaan High School, and footpaths for the New Canaan Land Trust. Today, the restored barn is enjoyed by family, friends, and the community, including by neighborhood kids who gather there for hot chocolate after an afternoon of sledding down the Larson’s backyard hill.
Photography / Michael Dinan
Candlewood Lake Family Compound
Designer and builder Kristina Larson LLC completed renovations that include all new electrical, new HVAC, expanding the former wooden deck and using stone instead, adding a new stone stairway from the driveway to side yard, and installing an outdoor shower for rinsing off after a dip in the lake.