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The country house that served as inspiration for designer Nora Murphy has been relisted for $675,000.
The beautifully restored farmhouse in Newtown, CT, is the backdrop for her lifestyle business, Nora Murphy Country House, which she founded in 2011. Now a savvy buyer can own Murphy’s very own country house.
“I fell in love with it the second I stepped foot in it,” says the Connecticut native of the home she’s lived in for 18 years. “It’s the quintessential classic country house.
“It’s an antique house, but it’s not dark and cramped,” she says, recalling the first time she saw it. “It was a sunny day, and the light blasted through the windows and French doors.”
Murphy and her husband, Richard, purchased the home for $540,000 in 2002.
“The house had great bones and great structure,” she adds. The previous owner had added overscale windows, so she painted the interiors white, opened up the kitchen a little more, and added a hand-painted checkerboard floor for vintage character.
With four bedrooms, and three baths, the 1767 farmhouse has been “immaculately redone and restored,” according to the listing.
The home did not have a master bedroom when Murphy acquired it. Eventually she and her husband added one on the ground floor, but Murphy had a specific look in mind.
“I Googled ‘dismantled antique buildings.’ I’m a designer [and] I [can] see the potential,” she says.
She tracked down a Victorian structure from 1857, which was last in use as a chicken coop. But the structure was more teahouse than birdhouse, and she repurposed it as a master suite addition.
It now includes built-in library shelving and an en suite bath with a double vanity and standing shower surrounded by reclaimed picket wood fencing to give it an outdoor shower feel.
The 2,758-square-foot home includes a living room/parlor with a cooking fireplace—one of the home’s original features. There’s also a formal dining room with fireplace, and a sunroom with views of the gardens, stone walls, and woods.
The kitchen features a cathedral ceiling, 19th-century beams, antique wood cabinetry, and high-end appliances.
The home sits on 2 acres surrounded by state forest. The property offers a kitchen garden, stone patios, and a barn with a loft that doubles as a two-car garage.
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Murphy is a former executive vice president for Ethan Allen and headed style and branding for the furnishings company. She’s since turned her home improvement project into a lifestyle blog, followed by an online magazine, and website. On social media she enjoys a devoted following. She’s the author of “Nora Murphy’s Country House Style,” which focuses on decorating, gardening, and entertaining.
Locals may also recognize her from her lifestyle segments on WFSB’s popular “Better Connecticut” program.
With her son graduated from college and “flying out of the nest,” and her husband retiring, it’s time to downsize. She placed the home on the market last fall for $699,000, but has since reduced the price.
Fans and followers shouldn’t worry that her design story will end when the home eventually sells.
“It’s time to move on and have a new project,” says Murphy. “Obviously I would like to continue my country house lifestyle with a smaller footprint.”
Located minutes from downtown Redding and Newtown, the home is about 1.5 hours from Manhattan.
“You don’t feel like you’re in an old house when it’s fixed up like this,” says listing agent Margi Esten. “You could walk into the house and not do a thing. It is move-in-and-have-a-dinner-party kind of house. It’s totally done.”
“We have been very proud caretakers of this place and its historical nature,” Murphy says. “I’m just waiting for the potential buyers to come here and fall in love with it the way I fell in love with it.”
The post Country House Design Guru Nora Murphy Selling Her Restored Farmhouse in Connecticut appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
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