A Grand Dame of a Show House

by Jenny Donelan / Photography by John HessionIn 1931, John P. Wright-grandson of the founder of silver-polish firm J.A. Wright and Co.-began building a six-thousand-square-foot estate on eighteen acres in Keene. Due to the ongoing Great Depression, there were several work stoppages along the way, but the home and gardens were finished in luxurious fashion by 1934.Nearly eighty years later, in 2009, during what many people were referring to as the Great Recession, the Friends of the Colonial Theatre in Keene embarked on a fundraising project that involved restoring the now-historic Wright Estate as a three-week showcase for local designers. Both projects, building a grand home in extremely tough economic times and refurbishing the same building as a show house in very tough economic times, were symmetrically ambitious-and successful.”It’s been a fun and enlightening project,” says Megan Burke Kidder, co-chair of the Friends of the Colonial Theatre, who also described launching a designer show house in a challenging economy as a “bold move.” But the group – which already had conducted several art auctions on behalf of the theater’s Education and Outreach Programs – wanted to do a different sort of fundraiser that would give back to the community in a more direct way. The Wright show house project would help maintain a local landmark, allow members of the community to see it and raise visibility for area designers, artisans and service providers.Keene’s Colonial Theatre, itself a local landmark, is an historic performing arts center that has been named to the New Hampshire Register of Historic Places. The venue presents movies as well as concerts and plays by both local and internationally renowned performance groups. The Colonial’s Education and Outreach Programs involve youth performances that are attended each year by as many as eight thousand children throughout the region.Choosing a LocationThe show house committee considered several properties for the project, but the Wright House was a standout. The Federalstyle, brick mansion on a hill overlooking a busy street has significant visual appeal outside and in, and a connection to the community through the Wright family, who lived there through the early 1970s.The house has eight bedrooms; six full baths and three halfbaths; a library; a study; a sizable kitchen and butler’s pantry; a large formal living room and a standout formal dining room with a floor-to-ceiling three-part bow window that looks onto a sunken garden with a fountain. There are also numerous gardens and a veranda in back of the house.The Wright House came with a few challenges, however. First, it isn’t located in downtown Keene, so isn’t within walking distance of the central shopping area. Second, the home was occupied by owners David and Kari Richardson and their five children (they have a sixth child in college). The Richardsons would have to move out for months for the project to take place. But when the committee approached the Richardsons, Kari says, the family wanted to participate. “This house is part of the community,” she says. “It’s our responsibility to share it.”The Richardsons, who moved to Keene from California about five years ago, had shared informally by hosting teenage gettogethers and so forth, but the family was excited by the idea of having more people see the house on an official basis.As it turned out, the project became a win-win situation. The Richardsons moved out for six months and stayed with a family in a nearby town, so the fundraiser could take place. When they returned, their home had received lots of TLC-fresh paint, skim coating, tile and wallpaper.Designers Near and FarAfter receiving the Richardsons’ cooperation with the project, the show house committee started a jurying process involving numerous designers throughout New England. Designers were invited to visit the house and submit a proposal for a room, keeping in mind the architecture of the house and the time period. The Friends of the Colonial Theatre also invited landscape architects to participate, as well as local artists from whom the designers could choose pieces for their rooms. And the committee produced a local resource guide to encourage designers to draw from local merchants and business.In all, about twenty areas of the house were offered as canvases on which designers could demonstrate their skill. Designers had the chance to submit proposals for areas as modest as the mudroom or as grand as the dining room. The gardens and porch were also part of the project.Those chosen hailed from as far as Royalston, Massachusetts, and York, Maine, to as local as Keene and nearby Marlborough and Dublin. After the designers were selected, they had ten weeks to get the house ready for opening to the public. Some designers ended up taking on more than one space. Ann Henderson of Ann Henderson Interiors in Keene, for example, did the kitchen and the living room. And at least three designers or contractors contributed to the kitchen, including Kristen and Stephen Powers of Trikeenan Tileworks in Keene and Rich Holschuh of Concrete Detail in Brattleboro, Vermont.In addition to staying within the time period and overall spirit of the house, designers were instructed to remember that they were creating livable designs for a family. That’s what Henderson did for the formal living room, which has a blue ceiling with white-and-cream paneling. The “great natural light” set the tone for Henderson’s color palette-neutrals with splashes of color thrown in. “It’s a mixture; there is formality, but it’s also happy and playful,” she says.Designers Anita and Russell Brandwein of Olive Kids in Marlborough definitely had kids in mind when doing the two children’s rooms on the second floor. The girl’s room featured a sea motif with mermaids, and the boy’s room had a space theme with rockets and planets.One of the most surprising areas in the house is the servant’s hallway on the second floor. Lorraine Casinghino of Days Gone By Interiors in Royalston, Massachusetts, tackled this somewhat daunting area. Citing her inspiration from the border and scroll painting she specializes in, and basing the design for the Wright House hall on a particular 1820 fresco in a house in Connecticut, Casinghino combined stenciling and painting into a diamond pattern that included 372 birds, drawn freehand in about six weeks. She also painted a realistic looking straw “mat” down the fortyfour- foot-long hallway.One of the show-house showstoppers was the dining room, where the garden view commands attention. Sue Erickson Bartlett and Julia Elizabeth Dias of Bartlett Design Associates in Concord used classic cherry and mahogany furniture with rich fabrics to set off the elegance of the room. From the table, guests can see the fountain in the middle of the sunken garden, the inner rim of which features small, colorful tile from Trikeenan.One of the other striking elements in the house was the main hallway, where Cathy Bosworth of Sterling & Knight in Keene created a graphic, flocked wallpaper with giant paisley designs based on a 1700s motif. She also did another wallpaper with black-andwhite birch trunks heading up the stairwell.The Sum of the PartsOn the whole the house harmonized well, even though twentyodd designers were working on it separately, simultaneously and occasionally in a state of frenzy. “You were never assaulted when you went from room to room,” Burke Kidder says. “The flow went so beautifully. It felt like the home that it is.”The show house received a warm reception from the public, she says, adding that the first week was slower than the second, and drew visitors from as far away as Maine and Massachusetts. Those were people who tend to go to lots of show houses, Burke Kidder continues, adding that two designers from Maine told her, “‘We’ve seen a lot of show houses, and this one ranks right up there at the top.’ I was delighted by that comment,'” she says.The second week had more local traffic. “Once people had come here, word spread like wildfire,” Burke Kidder says. This was a new experience for many people, she believes, adding that this was the first show house in southwestern New Hampshire to her knowledge. For that reason, the show house committee decided to keep the home open an additional week.So as the Richardsons prepared to move back in, Kari reported mixed feelings.While she and her family understandably wanted to get back to their regular lives, “I was shocked at how beautiful the house looked,” she says. “And I will be sad to see everything go.” Still, she and anyone else who had the chance to see the property in all its show-house glory will remember that taste of glamour and excitement in the midst of economic uncertainty.When Your House Becomes a Show HouseThe process of watching the family home become a designer showcase was both exciting and nerve-wracking for Kari Richardson of Keene. Kari, her husband David and their five children (a sixth is in college now) vacated the historic Wright House in Keene for six months so that the Friends of the Colonial Theatre could use the property as a fundraising venue.With a family this size-including a six-year-old, a nineyear- old and three teenagers-this was no small undertaking. Luckily, the Richardsons had a place to stay, with Bill and Peggy Heyman, who volunteered to share their Marlborough home. “They’ve been so kind and accommodating,” says Kari, who adds that getting to know their hosts was one of the most enriching aspects of the project.The finished house is “beautiful and amazing,” Kari says, adding that she is curious to see how the old family furniture will look along with the new wallpaper and paint.Much as she and her family were ready to return to their own home, there were regrets, too. They will miss the Heymans and the excitement. “It was kind of bittersweet,” Kari says. “I didn’t realize it would all be so emotional.”In any case, although the experience was “quite a ride,” Kari doesn’t have any regrets about opening the home for the project. “It would be really silly to have that beautiful house and not share it.”When Your House Becomes a Show HouseThe process of watching the family home become a designer showcase was both exciting and nerve-wracking for Kari Richardson of Keene. Kari, her husband David and their five children (a sixth is in college now) vacated the historic Wright House in Keene for six months so that the Friends of the Colonial Theatre could use the property as a fundraising venue.With a family this size-including a six-year-old, a nineyear- old and three teenagers-this was no small undertaking. Luckily, the Richardsons had a place to stay, with Bill and Peggy Heyman, who volunteered to share their Marlborough home. “They’ve been so kind and accommodating,” says Kari, who adds that getting to know their hosts was one of the most enriching aspects of the project.The finished house is “beautiful and amazing,” Kari says, adding that she is curious to see how the old family furniture will look along with the new wallpaper and paint.Much as she and her family were ready to return to their own home, there were regrets, too. They will miss the Heymans and the excitement. “It was kind of bittersweet,” Kari says. “I didn’t realize it would all be so emotional.”In any case, although the experience was “quite a ride,” Kari doesn’t have any regrets about opening the home for the project. “It would be really silly to have that beautiful house and not share it.”