Derby Hill Farm in Lyme, NH is the type of property you dream about, but cannot find unless you are willing to spend years from start to finish building your own custom residence on a perfect parcel with exceptional design, quality and craftsmanship. Located on a rise high above the Connecticut river valley, 10 miles from Dartmouth College, this private and serene offering on 80 +/- acres, includes a Smith & Vasant designed 3-bedroom 4-bathroom residence, a 3-bedroom 3-bathroom guest house, and a classic pass through barn with finished second story, all sited around a gravel courtyard flanked by stone walls, granite steps and fieldstone walkways.
When the current owners, he a career-long architect and she a landscape architect, bought the property 10 years ago, there was only the main residence built in 2007, with a front and east porch. Adjacent to it was the original 200-year-old cape known as the Derby place. Too far gone to restore, the new owners decided to replace it. To do so, they went back to Smith & Vasant and hired the same architect, Jason Gaddis, and interior design firm DPF, who did the main house, to design the guest house, barn, courtyard, west side screened porch of the main residence, and two screened walk-ways. They also screened in the east porch. To complete the work, they used only high-end materials with certain reclaimed finishes, and the best trade talent in the region. As a result, the homestead at Derby Hill Farm is magical. Each building is stunning in its own right, and perfectly placed relative to the other so the sunlight, breeze and views of the surrounding countryside pass through every window, porch and doorway.
Outside the land is private and peaceful accessed by a single-lane gravel road maintained and plowed by the town. Just past the house, the road becomes a public trail and continues through the property to points east such as Holt's Ledge via the Appalachian trail. The topography is mostly gentle, ideally suited for recreation and horseback. There are local mountain views to the east, seasonal views of Moose Mountain through the trees to the south, and longer-range views of Vermont to the west. Located only 15 minutes from downtown Hanover, NH, Derby Hill Farm is an exceptional must-see property.
Property Details
NH0489
Cape Style
Grafton
2007
Christopher Lang
Interior
Overview
2
Yes
Features & Equipment
Custom built-in cabinetry in almost every room and passageway.
Detailed molding, wall paneling and plaster finishes throughout.
Beautiful use of reclaimed materials such as hand-hewn beams in the dining and living rooms, hemlock flooring both upstairs and downstairs and large blocks of granite around the living room fireplace from the original farmhouse foundation. The wide-pine hand-planed boards from the old cape are also reused as wall panels and upstairs flooring in the new cape. The brick flooring in the new cape is recycled ¾ inch brick recycled from old warehouses in Chicago.
Elegant Danby imperial marble counter tops in both the master bathroom and baker’s pantry. Slate countertop and slate sinks in the kitchen of the main residence and guest house.
Extensive use and placement of iron chandeliers, wall sconces and hanging lights throughout especially in the guest house where there are no recessed ceiling lights.
Upstairs master suite on the east end of the main residence with private bathroom, steam shower and Jacuzzi tub, a large walk-in closet with extensive floor-to-ceiling built-ins with 3 additional built-in closets in the bedroom.
“Jack & Jill” double bedroom suite with pocket door to common space with closet and laundry shoot off of which connects two bedrooms on either side of a full bathroom.
Guest house also has upstairs master suite with private entry hall and full bathroom with shower and freestanding Victoria Albert soaking tub.
Two additional upstairs bedrooms in the guest house with separate shared bathroom with custom built-ins, Chinese-drawer pulls and tiled shower.
Second-floor family room in the main residence with vaulted ceiling, built-in cabinets and built in benches that can also double as extra space for sleeping.
Screened east-end porch accessed off the dining room/kitchen area. Additional west-end screened porch off the music room, both of which have a backside screened-in walkway that leads directly to each side of the living room. West-side sitting porch off the guest house. All porches have IPE mahogany decking as does the 55’ long front porch with pillars on the main residence that wraps around each side; and connects to the screen porches.
Tapered staircase with hemlock treads and flat-slat balusters. The staircases in the guest house and barn are equally beautiful with custom cut flat slat balusters.
Two mud rooms: one off the front entry that connects to the kitchen with five coat cubbies, overhead storage bays and a long sitting bench. The other off the west entrance with ample coat hooks and a long built-in bench with direct access to the laundry room and ¾ bathroom.
Gorgeous entry ways in all three structures as well as passage halls in both residences. The front of the main residence is accessed via a room with vaulted plaster ceiling, built-in phone-booth storage space and tiny elegant half-bath. The guest house offers a south entrance with sitting area as well as an east-to-west entry with center bird-themed room with vaulted ceiling and ½ bath. Above each doorway the molding is set in a classic Greek-revival pattern and the exterior doors are all 1 ¾ thick.
Barn with a central ground-level breezeway with two parking garages on either side. Leading upstairs is a custom-built staircase with flat-slat balusters and railing posts topped with mahogany chess pieces from Boston Turning Works. Upstairs is finished open space with vaulted bead-board ceilings with four gable ends supported by stag-horn braces all of which is heated by an on-demand a Rinnai propane heater. The center cupola is equipped with a large exhaust fan.
Full finished basements in both residences each with separate mechanical rooms.
3,678 square feet finished above ground - Main House 2,310 square feet finished above ground - Guest House
Exterior
Exterior Features
Classic New England clapboard siding with standing seam metal roof on the main residence and asphalt shingles on the guest house and barn.
Gravel courtyard flanked by stone walls, granite steps and fieldstone walkways. Along the fields and road edge are additional historic stone walls.
Fields to the east and west of the house as well as another field across the road.
Forest populated with large oaks and pines to the south and younger maples and beech trees to the north. There is a mature pear tree between the house and barn as well as an apple tree across the road. Several young oak trees were recently planted in the south side of the house.
Mostly gentile rolling topography well suited for recreation with views to the east of Holt’s Ledge, south through the trees to Moose Mtn, and west to Vermont.
One of only two homes on Claflin lane, the other located well below and out of site so very little if any traffic except for an occasional hiker passing through. The town maintains and plows to road to a point just shy of the barn and courtyard after which it turns into a public right of way used by hikers to access points east such as the Appalachian trail.
Main residence built in 2007. Barn in 2014. Guest house 2016.
Utilities
Overview
Propane furnace in house and guest house, Rinai propane heater in barn. Radiant heat first floor of main residence as well as all bathrooms and basement. Baseboard hot-water heat on the second floor. In the guest house, radiant heat first floor and second floor bathrooms. Baseboard hot-water heat on second floor and in the basement.
On-site private well and on-site private 6-bedroom septic.
Underground power with automatic backup generator.
Tasco security and fire alarm system with additional low-heat monitoring during winter.
