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A Millbrook, New York, couple built a Greek Revival-style home to display an extensive collection of English antiques and art. Completed in 2012, the house was designed to feel established in its Hudson Valley setting, with guidance from architect Cynthia Filkoff and designer Lynne Stair.
A couple in Millbrook, New York, built a Greek Revival-style home to give the owner’s decades-long collection of English antiques and art a permanent setting. Completed in 2012, the house was designed to appear settled in its Hudson Valley landscape rather than as a conspicuously new building, according to a report by Veranda.
The owner has collected primarily 18th- and early-19th-century English furniture for about 30 years. Many pieces had been in storage while the couple considered a larger home than their farmhouse, which sat on 100 acres but did not have enough room for the collection. The owner said he learned to act more quickly after once hesitating over an object he wanted and finding it gone when he returned.
The couple initially considered building on another lot. They changed course after deciding they wanted to remain on their existing property, where they could place the new home below a slope and behind large oak trees. The owner told Veranda they did not want a new house perched on a bare hilltop. Their stated aim was for the building to look as if it had long belonged there.
Architect Cynthia Filkoff of Di Biase Filkoff Architects drew on nearby and English precedents. She measured details of a Presbyterian church dating to about 1848 to help scale the home’s exterior moldings and visited country houses designed by Robert Adam, including Syon House, for ideas about the entry hall. Designer Lynne Stair of McMillen Inc. helped arrange the antiques and art, using architectural and decorative details to frame rather than overwhelm them.
A Home Built Around Its Collection
The project shows how a private collection can shape a home’s architecture as well as its interiors. Instead of treating the antiques as finishing touches, the owners and their team planned rooms, proportions and materials to give the objects a coherent setting. The result also addressed a practical problem: pieces held in storage could be displayed together in a larger house.
The report’s account of the design offers a specific example of new construction borrowing from historic architecture without being an original period building. The house was completed in 2012, but its makers used local references, classical design, traditional materials and landscaping to make it feel at home in Millbrook. That distinction matters for readers interested in historic-looking homes: the appearance is intentional, while the construction date is modern.
The interiors also balance the owner’s strong interest in English antiques with the designer’s role in editing and placement. Stair told Veranda that her aim was to provide a backdrop that would not compete with the collection. Rooms use varied colors and furnishings, including a formal dining room with Georgian furniture and a morning room with patterned wallpaper and green draperies.
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From Farmhouse to Greek Revival
The couple’s earlier farmhouse was on a substantial property in Millbrook, but the owners wanted a larger home and an architectural style suited to their collection. Some antiques were waiting in storage for a place where they could be used and seen. The decision to build on the same land came after the couple reconsidered the other proposed site and the landscape they would leave behind.
Veranda reports that the house’s design draws on both the Hudson Valley and English country-house traditions. A nearby church informed exterior proportions, while Robert Adam’s work informed the scale of the entry hall. Inside, details include raised paneling, a hand-carved stair railing, antique limestone flooring and neoclassical ornament. The home tour also describes a study with carved pine paneling and a Regency-period desk, alongside portraits and upholstered seating.
The collection and rooms are presented through Veranda’s house-tour coverage, with photography credited to Annie Schlechter. The report identifies Stair and Filkoff as key collaborators and describes the owners’ choices, but does not provide a construction budget or a full inventory and valuation of the collection.
““I learned my lesson the hard way.””
— The homeowner, speaking to Veranda
What the Home Tour Leaves Out
Veranda’s report is a design-focused home tour, not a real-estate listing or formal architectural history. It does not state the home’s value, construction cost, exact size, or the total number and monetary value of the antiques. The account also does not give a complete chronology of the collection or identify every object shown.
The descriptions of the house as appearing historic and of particular rooms as especially successful are the owners’ and designer’s assessments, not independent evaluations. The report says construction was completed in 2012; it does not describe any later renovations or changes to the collection.
No Further Project Milestone Reported
The source describes a completed home and does not announce a future renovation, sale or exhibition. No next construction milestone is reported. Readers can consult Veranda’s original house tour for the full set of room photographs and its additional design details.
Key Questions
Where is the Greek Revival home?
It is in Millbrook, New York, in the Hudson Valley, on the couple’s existing property.
When was the house built?
Veranda reports that construction was completed in 2012. Its historic appearance was part of the design goal; the house is not an 1850-era building.
What kind of antiques does the owner collect?
The collection consists primarily of 18th- and early-19th-century English pieces, gathered over about three decades, along with an art collection.
Who designed the house and its interiors?
Architect Cynthia Filkoff of Di Biase Filkoff Architects worked on the architecture. Lynne Stair of McMillen Inc. helped design the interiors and arrange the collection.
What is not known about the project?
The report does not give the home’s cost or value, its exact size, or a complete inventory or valuation of the antiques.
Source: veranda.com
