Tour a Vermont Home Inspired by a Castle

The castle-like home features a three-story turret. The turret’s second level is connected to the living room and offers views of the mountains, the patio, and the perennial gardens. The turret’s upper room is a meditation space, part of the primary suite.

The northwestern end of the home, dubbed Chateau W, is composed of veneer granite stone, shingles, and curved panels.

A Renaissance Rumford 1500 fireplace/wood stove with a guillotine door stands at the far end of the living room. The fireplace surround features veneer granite stone with three-dimensional grouting.

The kitchen’s ocean-blue quartzite countertops pair nicely with the blue cabinetry, made by Cookshire Cabinets in Cookshire, Quebec.

IronArt Custom Metalwork crafted the wine cellar door and handle, while mason Matt Parisi used a European beaded mortar joint to bring extra depth to the surrounding granite veneer stone.

Built into the turret’s lower level, this bar is adjacent to a generous banquet room, the private wine cellar, and a full-size billiard table.

Chateau W sits on the crest of a hill and, like chateaus of the past, features rooms that offer both prospect and refuge.

A lounge is oriented toward views of a distant mountain range from the garret-like level of Chateau W. The door on the right leads to a sauna.

Designing a House Rooted in Arts and Crafts Tradition

“Listening.” It’s one of architectural designer Milford Cushman’s favorite words. “And for good reason,” he explains as he flips through photos of a recent project, a dramatic four-story, six-bedroom home in the northern Vermont village of Hyde Park. “It is so important for a designer to listen, and keep listening, to what a client is asking—and hoping—for.”

“Castle-like” was a phrase that his client often used to describe his vision during several design consultations with Cushman and his team, including Cushman’s wife, interior design specialist Terri Gregory. While this style description is not typical of the homes Cushman and his team design, it eventually inspired him to show the client examples of work by the legendary California-based Arts and Crafts architect Bernard Maybeck.

“The more we talked, the more I thought of Maybeck’s dramatic work,” says Cushman. “He took one look at a chateau-esque Maybeck home and said, ‘That’s it! Perfect!’ ” remembers Cushman. Adds Gregory, “We were off and running.”

A Four-Story Vermont Residence Where Every Room has a Function

After learning that his clients would be using their home for a variety of reasons, from hosting their adult children to entertaining to working at home, the designer—in collaboration with the clients—came up with a novel plan that assigned a different function to each of the home’s four stories.

The ground level, the most public space, features a dining/banquet area, billiard room, wine cellar, movie theater, and small kitchen. The second level includes a family room, dining area, main kitchen, reading nook (tucked into a castle-like turret), main bar, and pantry. The third floor houses bedrooms, bathrooms, and a home gym/yoga room. A wood-paneled office, private outdoor decks, and a mini spa are tucked away in the top, garret-like level that the clients have dubbed their “getaway floor.”

“To offer clients the best of both worlds, we employed the classic design theme of prospect and refuge,” explains Cushman. “The home boasts a range of open, light-filled rooms with expansive views to the outside, for prospect, as well as quiet, cave-like, cozy places for refuge.”

According to the client, that combination gives him and his family everything they were looking and hoping for when they brought their initial ideas to Cushman, his team, and the craftspeople who worked together to combine old-world charm with modern-day luxury. Says the homeowner, “They were all able to turn our dream into a reality.”

Project Team
Architectural and interior design: Cushman Design Group
Builders: Patterson & Smith Construction; Steel Construction