This beautiful 1940s stone cottage in South Burlington, Vermont, features Scandinavian-inspired Christmas decor throughout its interiors. The homeowners are an architectural designer and an interior designer with two teenage children. The couple both have an eye for nature’s artwork and have a mutual love of the holiday season. During the holidays, the family enjoys scouring the roadsides for wild berries and branches to help bring natural elements into their home.
Above: The beautiful family room features a touch of whimsy with its eyebrow arch bay window. The homeowner designed this area to create a special stage to highlight the Christmas tree during the holidays. The window frames views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks beyond. Decorations include the children’s handmade ornaments adorning the tree and cookies designed with a vintage wood press (pictured below).
The collection of nature is just a part of this family’s seasonal celebrations. They begin their festivities on Thanksgiving weekend, when the whole family and their extended family visit a tree farm in Middlebury, Vermont. Their selection is Scotch pine, known to remain fresh throughout the holiday season. With one-inch needles, these bright green trees are stunning; the ultimate advantage is that the needles do not fall when they are dry, offering excellent needle retention.
Above: The 850-square-foot family room features pine board-clad walls and ceilings, built-in shelving, and a loft space that exudes a casual farmhouse aesthetic. The loft was originally designed to be used as a playroom when the children were younger. Doors on either side of the fireplace connect to a home office that both homeowners share.
A few days following Thanksgiving, the clan ventures on a local outing to purchase a fir tree to adorn the family room. Their goal is to get the trees early so they can really enjoy the holiday season. The homeowner has stated that they have been known to keep their trees up till as late as February, as they are heartbroken to take them down. The Scotch pine is used to decorate the living room, adorned with glass balls and other special keepsakes—creating a more formal atmosphere.
Above: The kitchen was also designed with the holidays in mind, featuring an expansive 15-foot center island for cookie baking marathons. The countertop is clad with honed Danby marble from Vermont, which is one of the hardest marbles in the world, a chef’s dream! The perimeter cabinets are topped with Vermont soapstone. A back entry with a stone floor connects to the food pantry, which features a frosted glass door labeled “feed”, while the mudroom is labeled “tack.”
Above: Walls are white-painted horizontal ship-lap boards, while the floors are white oak, creating an inviting Scandinavian farmhouse aesthetic.
What We Love About This Home
This stunning stone cottage is a magnificent display of Scandinavian decor mixed with natural elements. The inviting farmhouse feel makes us want to spend the holidays in this warm and cozy home. We love the family traditions these homeowners share and how they have designed their home to celebrate their love of the holidays.
Tell Us: What family traditions do you and your family partake in during the holiday season? Please let us know in the comments below!
Above: In the dining room, the doorway was expanded to better connect it with the kitchen. The walls feature a navy-tinted Venetian plaster.
Above: The homeowner is a fisherman, so he handcrafted fish-motif balusters for the staircase leading to the newly designed owner’s bedroom suite.
Above: The Scandinavian charm continues to flow upstairs and into the owner’s bedroom suite. A sliding barn door opens into the bedroom with its gabled ceiling and cozy window seat. Above the dresser is a tulip-motif wall light brought in from Sweden.
Above: The “Boston Swing Arm” wall sconces flanking the bed were sourced from Circa.
Above: The flooring is a collection of locally sourced stones from the Lake Champlain area over the years. “The stones are smooth to the touch and are therapeutic to walk on,” states the homeowner. The console table is a repurposed exterior balcony railing, topped with a stone slab.
Above: The homeowners and their two teenage sons love to ski on the snowy slopes of Vermont.
Above: From the exterior perspective, you can see the board-and-batten family room addition, which is just steps forward from the original stone cottage.
PHOTOGRAPHER John Bessler for Traditional Home
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