Inside a Creatively Reimagined Connecticut Country Escape

The august English writer and critic Samuel Johnson once opined, “The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.” Johnson’s maxim finds eloquent expression in the captivating Connecticut home of Jane Keltner de Valle, cofounder of children’s skin care line Paloroma (and AD’s former style director), and her husband, AD100 designer Giancarlo Valle. Together, the dynamic couple have conjured a vision of classic New England charm animated by a wholly contemporary spirit—a marriage of the familiar and the novel that speaks to their professional pedigrees, their personal passions, and the spirit of their young family. It is also a testament to the twin virtues of innovation and restraint, inspiration and ease.

Tapestry Daybed

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Giancarlo Valle

Butaque Chair

$3,510

1stdibs

Objets Nomades Stool

$5,650

Louis Vuitton

Braquenié Bengali Cotton

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Pierre Frey

The site for the Valles’ adroit balancing act is a stalwart 1863 house, painted crisp white with dark green shutters, which once served as a parsonage for the town’s historic Greek Revival church. Trim and subdued, the original, essentially cubic structure has a wood-paneled living room added in the 1920s and a kitchen extension built in the 1970s. “We loved the proportions. It felt very modern in its simplicity. It’s gracious, but not in an overdone kind of way—elegance without the frills,” Giancarlo says of the home’s appeal. “The house was well-loved, and you could feel the good energy,” adds Jane. “It had an unimposing formality that we tried to maintain. Even as we put our own stamp on it, we wanted the house to remain as it has always been.”

Daisuke Quilt

$1,060

APC

Smooth Sailing Gentle Cleansing Bar

$12

Paloroma

Radicchio Serving Bowl

$92

Porta NYC

Sidnie Lamp

$399

Schoolhouse

That meant no anachronistic Pilates studio or open-plan kitchen, no hammam, and no marble-clad bathroom large enough to host an ice cream social. Yet within the house’s rooms, the couple teased a palpable sense of wonder and delight through discreet decorative gestures that put an entirely new complexion on the traditional architecture. Naturally, examples of Giancarlo’s own furniture designs buoy the winsome ambience: the toothsome chunkiness of his dining room sideboard; the insouciant curves of his living room sofa; and the custom kitchen island inlaid with delft tiles, to name just a few. In the primary bedroom and bath suite, he added attenuated, branch-form columns that introduce a note of fairy-tale forest magic to the sprightly mix.

Many of the pieces were crafted in a makeshift woodshop set up in the garage, including a series of boxy sconces knocked up from scrap wood. “Fabricating things on-site made them feel even more special and connected to the life of the house,” the designer notes. “My dream is to turn our dilapidated barn into a proper woodshop and guesthouse, but that’s going to have to wait until we catch our breath.”