It’s not hard to figure out why spring makes us think about decorating or redecorating our homes. After the dreary winter months, just contemplating putting a fresh color on the living room walls or a new accent rug in the hall makes me smile.
Of course, some people bite off a lot more than that. Take Melanie Barnard, who raised her family in a 1761 house in New Canaan. As you might imagine, over the past 250 years the building underwent a lot of changes, the result being two essentially separate houses — the historic part that no one really used, and the wing added in the 1950s that now needed its own updating. So why, with her children grown, would Melanie embark on a major renovation that included knocking down walls, raising ceilings and adding a totally new kitchen? Wouldn’t it be easier to move and let a new buyer do all the work?
Maybe — unless that new owner wanted to knock down the house that had served only six families during its lifetime, and start all over. The prospect filled the Barnards with fear. “These old houses are worth preserving,” Melanie says, noting that she always considered herself to be the property’s caretaker. “We know a lot about the former owners,” she explains. “And I knew that I was not going to be the one who abandoned this house. Instead, I decided that we would make it so cool and so right that no one would tear it down.”
The story of exactly what she did is told in “This Old House Moves into the 21st Century.” Suffice it to say that, from its eighteenth-century hearths to its modern top-of-the-line kitchen appliances, the so-called Ephraim Smith House is now ready to take on whatever challenges the future may hold.
One woman who has never shied away from challenges is Anna Holbrook, a New Canaan wife and mother who has had a long and successful career as an actor. Winner of a Daytime Emmy for her role as Sharlene on the soap opera Another World, Anna has also appeared in a wide variety of other shows and commercials over a career that spans more than two decades. Yet, like so many other people who are satisfied with their choices, she clearly has a top priority. “I’ve got to have my family happy,” she told writer Gary Santaniello. To learn more about this multifaceted woman, turn to page 74.
If it seems that you’re noticing more twins around lately, you’re not imagining things. The twin birthrate in Connecticut is 25 percent higher than in the rest of the country and still climbing. How do the new parents cope with their multiple responsibilities? Writer Christy Colasurdo asked all the right questions as she researched this month’s feature “Juggling Act.”
And please don’t forget to go online at bestofgoldcoastct.com and fill in your choices for the 2008 version of the Best of the Gold Coast Connecticut. It’s fast, it’s easy and the party in August is so much fun.
See you next month.