It’s that time of year again! On Friday, May 11th, the always anticipated Near & Far Aid Designer House Tour opens its doors to interior design lovers across Connecticut. Below is a previously published post on one of the many amazing homes that we toured last year. HERE is a link to the Near & Dar Aid website, tickets are still available and worth every penny! Hope to see you on the tour.

During a recent Near & Far Aid Event Tour of five designer homes, my crew and I visited a private Southport, Connecticut house that was made for entertaining. From the moment I walked into the living room, I got the distinct impression that the layout of the furniture was carefully designed to create a natural flow so guests can mix and mingle.

(Wait until you see the living room and dining room – they are show stoppers!)

The living room was long and narrow, very similar to the one in my home. I have always struggled with where to put our furniture. My instinct is to create the focal point in the middle of the room near the fireplace, but the left and right sides are left empty. Or worse, have furniture that no one uses and then I feel like it’s just filling up space.

In this home, the living room was large enough to create two spaces. Identical sofas were placed back to back and while it was obvious that the room was split, the use of the same fabrics and color palette created cohesiveness.

The backyard was very large with a simple, but elegant pool on one side (see aerial view above) and a lawn on the other. I loved that the pool was surrounded by nothing but grass. Typically you’d expect to see blue stone and lounge chairs, but at this house all you need is a towel.

Behind the pool is a pool house, but I really don’t think that “pool house” does it justice. It’s a large two-story house with a bar and pool table on the second floor. It seemed to be an ideal place to play after a day of swimming. Lucky for us, the bar was open during the tour and we were able to sip on Lemon Drops!

I took lots of photos of this beautiful home, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Southport Soirée House

| wet bar adjacent to the dining room and kitchen |

| breakfast banquet |

| notice the countertop and backsplash are the same material |

| family room or den |

| the view from the second floor |

| master bath |

 

| great fabric |

| back foyer that leads to the pool and lawn |

| large lawn area with lots of privacy trees |

| love how uncluttered this pool area is |

 

| the pool house, look for the arrow in the top left |

| here is the pool table on the second floor of the pool house |

Sarah OBrien

Connecticut in Style