I’ve been addicted to home design magazines for years. I can hardly bear to throw them out, as you’d discover if you looked under our guest bed where I stash back issues I’m not yet done with. There’s not much evidence that gazing at pictures of beautiful interiors has had a beneficial effect on my own home, where cats, dogs, and next door’s pet rooster inviting himself in combine with my oblivious spouse to give the place what’s kindly called a “lived-in” look. But I can dream. I also enjoy visiting home shows, although I recall an embarrassing incident when I admired the rustic plaster “before” in a demo shower stall instead of the newly plasticized “after.” Oops.
Anyway, there’s a terrific home show coming up in Millbrook this Saturday hosted by Crisp Architects (read the official event info here). When I was editing Hudson Valley Home magazine, we featured several residences designed by Jimmy Crisp and his colleagues — beautiful, traditional homes with lovely detailing — so it’s likely that if Crisp has anything to do with a show called “Fine Home Source” it will include truly fine home sources from hereabouts. “I am, in fact, Mr. Fine Home Source,” Crisp admitted when I called to ask about his involvement. “We were in a home show about six years ago, for a fund-raiser, and it was great,” he says. “We met some potential clients and we met vendors and craftspeople that we still use today — serious professionals representing high-end appliances or high-craft professions.”
It was such a good experience, that for the past three years, Crisp has organized a similar show in Millbrook. “It’s our opportunity to bring together all the craftspeople we know and showcase them,” he says. “We have everything from a guy who makes handmade Windsor chairs the way they did 200 years ago to a guy who installs super-complex audio-visual systems. We have someone who does Persian rug repair, and one who offers a rainwater capture system for your garden. And green solutions, too — solar, geothermal, all that.”
Some of the exhibitors will be familiar to those of you with back issues of Hudson Valley Home stashed somewhere: Antique & Vintage Woods of America (handsome reclaimed lumber); Arrowsmith (gorgeous ironwork); Glencar (water gardens and landscaping); and Jackscraft (custom screen doors) to name a few. If you’re in the market for a wine cellar, sauna, swimming pool, or putting green, there are exhibitors offering those luxuries. You can also find out about lightning protection, home elevators and stair lifts, soy-based insulation, non-toxic paints, appliances, plumbing, woodworking, faux finishing, marble and tile, and architectural services from Jimmy Crisp himself — everything to make your home efficient and as pretty as a picture, inside and out.
A suggested $2 donation benefits the Dutchess Land Conservancy. To get inspired, or meet some of the area’s talented artisans, go check it out. There are lots of places in Millbrook to grab a bite, so you can even make a day of it. For more info on the 40-plus vendors, click here.
