Fall22_Georgia

Two couples who left busy New York City for a circa-1928, 14,000-square-foot school-turned-residence upstate teach us that anyplace can be home if you respect its bones and the land around it.

Two creative couples who left busy New York City for a circa-1928, 14,000-square-foot school-turned-dwelling upstate teach us that anyplace can be home if you respect its bones and the land around it.

Until I started going upstate with Tim, I had never used a lawn mower or had a garden or even really driven a car. Now some of the things I love about Delaware County is the mist that fills the valleys in the morning, pulling over by the side of the road to pick daisies, getting stuck behind tractors driving 15 miles per hour, knowing where the robins build their nests year after year, eating lettuce right out of the dirt, and peeing outside. Tim had his friend Scott make a painting of a picture he took of me jumping into a pond butt naked, which currently hangs next to our sofa. That might be the artwork that feels the most celebratory of the life we’ve made: fun and joyful.

After relocating to the Catskills, it became clear that we felt better here, happier and more fulfilled, than when we lived in the city. In Brooklyn, I fed off the energy of being surrounded by so many people and so much action. What I didn’t realize I was missing was nature. Until I started going upstate with Tim, I had never used a lawn mower or had a garden or even really driven a car. Now some of the things I love about Delaware County are the mist that fills the valleys in the morning, pulling over by the side of the road to pick daisies, getting stuck behind tractors driving 15 miles per hour, knowing where the robins build their nests year after year, eating lettuce right out of the dirt, and peeing outside. Tim had his friend Scott make a painting of a picture he took of me jumping into a pond butt naked, which currently hangs next to our sofa. That might be the artwork that feels the most celebratory of the life we’ve made: fun and joyful.

Clearing the gym floor of desks and chairs left over from the school era so that the four of us could actually use it was especially satisfying. We’ve since really gotten into pickleball—we even played through the winter, when the temperature in the unheated room was lower than outside. You work up a sweat fast. Since moving here full-time from New York City in the spring of 2020, I’ve had the chance to turn some of my hobbies—gardening, cooking, crafting—into part of how I make a living. My quilting adventure began last summer. First, my friend Sophie introduced me to ice dyeing, a process that involves making color fields and patterns in a very fluid and hands-off way, basically setting it (piling ice and dye on top of fabric) and forgetting it (letting the whole mess melt down). The results are unpredictably beautiful and deeply satisfying. Then Devi gifted me her sewing machine, and suddenly it felt obvious and urgent that I should learn to sew. My sister showed me the basics she had picked up from my mom, and everything else I gleaned from online tutorials. I enjoy the process of trying, failing, problem-solving, and trying again. The way quilting marries creativity and practicality really resonates with me.

—Georgia Hilmer

When the pandemic began, we suddenly had the time and support for renovations. Our friends Devi and Skyler moved in with us for more than a year and helped remove the fluorescent lighting and broken pipes and patch every hole in the plaster-covered steel lathe walls. The rubble from taking out the ceilings alone filled two huge dumpsters. I look around now and can see all the layers of dust, plaster, linoleum, and chipping paint we had to work through just to get to where we are. We also did a lot of shifting from school-scale (our bathroom used to have three toilet stalls in it!) to family-size amenities. Tim has built the majority of the furniture in our place, which makes everything feel cohesive and unified.

Early in the morning, I know a door creaking open is Gordon taking their cat down to his music room. I expect to see Su outside at dusk in the garden beds, where the schoolyard once was. I’m sure they can hear my sewing machine clattering away in the afternoon. We often cross paths in the hallways, but it’s also normal to go days without seeing one another. The main floor has a central hallway and atrium with doors leading to what used to be four large classrooms. Now they’re each self-contained apartments with their own bathroom and kitchen. We split the building in half so each couple has two of these apartments, with a space dedicated for guests or short-term rentals. Our apartment is classroom five, marked by a hand-painted number on the door. It used to function as a library, full of bookshelves not just along the walls but forming a dense maze. Before we could fix up the place, we had to get to the point where we could see all four corners. We spent more than a year carting old furniture and debris out so we could understand the demolition required to restore the layout’s original symmetry.

While I help Su and Gordon tend to the things that grow outside (peppers, squash, broccoli, foxglove, zinnias, cosmos), Tim’s domain is the houseplants. There are more than 60 in our apartment—he’s great at propagating. My favorite is the giant monstera we bought at a yard sale a few years ago and placed in the back of his pickup truck, flapping in the wind as we bumped our way home over dirt roads.

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work

home

Tim’s sister, Su, a graphic designer, and her husband, Gordon, an artist, were looking to move out of Brooklyn at the same time that we found the school. Tim and Su are really close and had shared an apartment in New York City for years, so the idea of living together was not that foreign. The size of the school meant all four of us could be there comfortably and have our own respective studios: The old cafeteria became Gordon’s workshop, and I took the principal’s office for my photography, writing, and eventually quilting. Downstairs, a math classroom is now Tim’s woodshop, while a locker room is his office. The only way we could manage such a big undertaking was as a team. It’s amazing what you can do with 14,000 square feet. It’s also amazing how fast that space fills up.

The first time my husband, Tim, and I visited the school in 2018, it felt more like a “Ha-ha, can you believe this?” detour than a serious real-estate inquiry. Our friend Eric had been shown the Delaware County, New York, property by a Realtor and told us we should check it out. The then owner, an artist who had been living there for 20 years (it was decommissioned in the ’90s), was trying to sell the place along with a lot of the stuff inside, like books and records. I vividly remember a snapping turtle in a giant tank in one room. I didn’t get it at first. It was cluttered and the grounds were totally wild with bramble. I couldn’t imagine it becoming a home. Luckily, Tim, who’s a photographer, had the vision that I was lacking. He could see what it would look like without the drop ceilings and carpeting, and wasn’t as daunted by the work such a massive project would require.

Photography by Tim Barber Words by Georgia Hilmer Produced by Kate Berry

Credits

Custom Kitchen Island and Cabinetry by Tim Barber and Skyler Spohn; Vintage Pendant Lamps; Freestanding Refrigerator-Freezer, Fisher & Paykel; Spaghetti Barstools by Giandomenico Belotti, Relationships; Købenstyle Casserole Pot, Dansk; Mia Ekettle Electric Water Kettle, Chantal; Calendar by Chioma Ebinama and Jung Ah Kim.

Credits

Vintage Dresser; Ceramic Pitcher by Laura Chautin; Ceramic Vase by Evamarie Pappas and Gary Oglander, In Various Forms; Glass Sphere Paperweight, Hafod Grange Paperweights.

Credits

Custom Tables, Shelves, and Plant Stand by Tim Barber; Vintage Sofa and Armchair; Custom Enzo Marie–Inspired Coffee Table by Tim Barber; Side Table, IKEA; Mirrored Side Table by Robin Barber; Photograph by Jason Nocito; Drawing by Scott Lenhardt.

Credits

Simply White Paint, Benjamin Moore; Custom Bench and Floral Cabinet by Tim Barber; Bath Mat, Beam; Framed Painting by Charlie Roberts.

Credits

Bed and Console by Tim Barber; Bedding, Georgia Hilmer; Vintage Armchair, Ottoman, and Rug; Albers Nesting Table, MoMA Design Store.

Credits

Above: Vintage Floor Lamp and Rug; Custom Table, Ladder, and Bookshelf by Tim Barber; Pendant Lamp and Sofa, IKEA; Quilt, Sharktooth; Vintage Armchair by Thonet, 1stDibs; Vintage Artwork. Left: Vintage Tub and Mirror.

Credits

Above: Desk and Chair by Tim Barber; Framed Art by Lexie Smith, All Semantics. On Hilmer: Barnes Jumpsuit, Rachel Comey; Watch, Casio. Left: Vintage Desk and Chair; Framed Art by Helen McCusker.

“The only way we could

manage such a big

It’s amazing what you can

undertaking was as a team.

do with 14,000 square feet.”

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02/02

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Untitled (Blue-boy) by Tim Barber

Albers Nesting Table, MoMA Design Store ($1,895)

Infinity Round Wall Mirror, CB2 ($249)

Collaboration Vase by Evamarie Pappas and Gary Oglander, In Various Forms ($2,300)

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issue

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