Time-Honored Style: At Home With John Dransfield and Geoffrey Ross
Written by Robert Leleux | Photographed by Patrick Cline | Produced and Art Directed by Michelle Adams
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In Somerset County, New Jersey, the designers John Dransfield and Geoffrey Ross make their home in a Georgian Revival with a storied past.
Ten years ago, when designers John Dransfield and Geoffrey Ross, owners of the celebrated home furnishings and accessories company that bears their names, purchased a small 19th-century farmhouse in Somerset County, New Jersey, it was merely intended as a weekend retreat. But as they settled into the Garden State's Hunt Country, a nearby house captured their imaginations: Cherryfields, a stately Georgian Revival with a storied past, built by famed New York architect A. Musgrave Hyde in 1929.
At the time the couple first became enamored by it, Cherryfields was still owned by Nancy "Princess" Pyne, who'd lived there for half a century, and who, along with her friends Sister Parish and Albert Hadley, had transformed it into a residence of renowned style and grace.
A couple of years later, when Dransfield and Ross heard that Cherryfields was up for sale, they quickly arranged a tour. On the morning they arrived at the house and were greeted at the door by the silver-haired, Chanel-suited Pyne, they became certain of two things: that Cherryfields would be theirs, and that its patrician proprietor would become a permanent fixture in their lives. Within a year, the couple had traded houses with Pyne, who still freely roams her old home and grounds, supplying spry counsel and choice anecdotes about her old compatriots Malcolm Forbes and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (who used to weekend next door).
"It's a special, beautiful place," says Dransfield. "We feel so lucky to live here."
Dransfield and Ross created multiple informal seating areas in the large living room by boldly placing a round table at the center of the space. The mirror above the mantel is by Zajac and Callahan. The room's gracious architectural details include pilasters salvaged from a 19th-century home in Trenton, New Jersey.
Designed in 1929 by prominent New York architect A. Musgrave Hyde as a shared residence for two sisters, Cherryfields boasts two grand foyers. In this entry, an 18th-century Russian crystal chandelier, a gift from the couple's close friend Jeremiah Goodman, contributes a touch of old-world glamour.
Klismos chairs are cleverly juxtaposed with a Saarinen tulip table. The Moroccan rug was a gift from Malcolm Forbes to Nancy "Princess" Pyne on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The standing lamp was purchased from the estate of tobacco heiress Doris Duke.
To provide their dining room with a sense of casual comfort, Dransfield and Ross opted to furnish the space with two round tables rather than a more traditional rectangular table. Cheery, hand-painted gray stripes further underscore the room's informal charm.
The primary bathroom possesses the air of a gentlemen's club, complete with antlers and dark, lustrous wood. A faux Persian rug, produced by Dransfield & Ross, is made from water resistant canvas.
In the primary bedroom, grasscloth wallpaper provides warmth, sophistication, and texture. Two roll-arm chairs anchor the foot of the bed, creating a makeshift sitting room. Nineteenth-century lithographs of paintings and sketches from David Roberts' Egypt Portfolio adorn the bedroom's walls.
John and Geoffrey's Top Spots for Vintage Finds
1. “Golden Nugget Antique Market, in Lambertville, New Jersey, has amazing finds!”
2. “Broken Arrow Nursery, in Hamden, Connecticut, is truly in a class by itself.”
3. “Hoffman Woodward, in historic East Berlin, Pennsylvania, offers custom cabinetry, textiles, and objects from the 18th and 19th centuries.”
The breakfast room's deep, masculine palette is counterbalanced by crisp white linen and painted molding. A salvaged Queen Anne Victorian window frame graces an Egyptian Revival chest of drawers.