design
Family Heirloom
Architect Ben Nutter creates a timeless
farmhouse kitchen for a young family in Topsfield.
By Nancy E. Berry
when melissa and jay Pierce inherited a piece of land in Topsfield from Jay's
great-uncle, they knew they had been
given something special. The three-acre
lot and old rambling farmhouse had been
in Jay's family since 1850. Although the
couple wanted to restore the old house,
they soon realized it would be easier to
start from scratch. "We loved the place,
but it was not structurally sound and the
hodgepodge of rooms did not work for
our family's lifestyle," says Melissa.
The couple turned to local Topsfield
architect Ben Nutter to re-create the feel
of the old house in the new one. Nutter is
a master when it comes to designing "vintage" spaces. "The most important room
for us was the kitchen," notes Melissa.
"We're not a take-your-shoes-off-at-thedoor type of family." And the new space
photographs by eric roth
NB KJ NS Mar14 Nutter.indd 53
would need to reflect their casual style.
Jay and Melissa took their time deciding what elements they would like in
their new kitchen. Melissa clipped ideas
from home magazines and kept them in a
binder for reference. "If you had asked me
before the project started, I would have
sworn I wanted a kitchen with dark wood
cabinetry," she says. "But when I looked
back at my binder, all of the kitchens were
classic white."
The couple's intent is to keep the land
in the family for future generations (they
have two small children). "The kitchen
needs to look great even 30 years from
now," says Melissa.
Nutter designed a simple farmhouse
look with traditional finishes and materials.
Melissa's kitchen wish list included a large
center island for prep work, lots of natural
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