Historic Charm Meets Modern Elegance in a Restored Eighteenth-Century Farmhouse in Charlottesville

Architect Carmel Greer will be the first to tell you: She and her husband never had any intention of owning a farm. But when COVID hit in 2020, they started looking for an escape outside of Washington D.C., their longtime base. And when they visited a 310-acre spread in Charlottesville, Virginia, they fell in love. 

“There was just something very soft and dreamy about the landscape,” Greer remembers of that first visit. Soon after purchasing it, they decided to move full time to the charming spread, which boasted a five-acre vineyard, stables, and a farmhouse originally built in the 1780s.

“It wasn’t in terrible shape when we bought it, but it just needed some love,” Greer says. She rolled up her sleeves and learned to grow grapes, enrolled her daughter in riding school, and brought her artistic eye to her new home’s interiors—all while preserving its historic character. “One of the fireplaces has a really old dog paw print in it, and that’s my favorite thing,” she says. “I’ve just loved working on it. It’s so much fun to give new life to a property like this.” 

Take a look inside.

Greer spruced up the foyer and its original wood floors with a bold, floral wallpaper that extends to the second story and a fresh coat of paint on the front door—her go-to color, Benjamin Moore Tomato Red.  

Though the chunky table with farmhouse legs stands in the center of the kitchen, the real star of the room is the original fireplace and its wood-burning stove. Above it hangs an antique floral still life that Greer bought at Pete’s Auction Service in Madison County—she loves to make space for art in kitchens. “Everyone gathers around that table, and when the power goes out, my daughter and I put a teapot on the wood stove and pretend we’re living in another time,” she says.

Greer hung her collection of antique silver serving platters—which she can easily take down from their hooks when hosting—on the walls of the kitchen pantry, which are painted Sherwin-Williams Aristocratic Peach. 

A landscape mural frames the blue doorway that leads into the living room—an opening Greer made by knocking a few walls out. “The floor plan was convoluted because different people had added on to the house over time, so we opened up the space to make it easier to get to the living room.”

Farrow and Ball’s Breakfast Room Green sets the tone for the dining room, a color Greer felt brought warmth and a vintage feel. Large artwork helps the space feel more intimate. The chandeliers, a find from Visual Comfort & Co., recall traditional colonial fruit fans with their pineapple shapes. 

Greer selected Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue as the defining color for her husband’s office, one of the oldest rooms in the house. The desk is a find from a barn on the property, and the mirrored light fixture hanging above it is something Greer “found and loved and carted around for years.”

All the bedrooms have large fireplaces and heart pine floors. Greer leaned into the vintage feel and purchased the cabinet from a neighbor down the road. “It’s a big old country bedroom that faces the pond and the willow trees outside,” she says. “It’s just really beautiful.”