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See How This Home Went from Neglected Schoolhouse to Chic Cottage

A neglected Federal-style schoolhouse in the Catskills was transformed into a glamorous and chic home.

By Sara Bliss
Window, Property, House, Home, Real estate, Roof, Residential area, Building, Door, Land lot, pinterest
Lucas Allen

Intrigued by an article featuring gorgeous and inexpensive 19th-century houses in New York's Catskills, Gotham magazine lifestyle editor, Jason Oliver Nixon, and decorator John Loecke decided to check out the area's real estate websites. To their amazement, they found a Federal-style former schoolhouse listed at $30,000. Three hours later they were exploring the 900-square-foot structure--a neglected rental with no closets, second-floor ceilings so low they couldn't stand erect, and multiple layers of wallpaper and paint. Convinced that a little renovation and decorating would revive the c. 1840 building, they purchased it. One week after the closing, pipes burst and the ceiling caved in. Undeterred, they began a gut renovation, doing much of the work themselves alongside Jason's uncle Lary and father, Jary.

Catskills Cottage

Window, Property, House, Home, Real estate, Roof, Residential area, Building, Door, Land lot,
Lucas Allen

A year later, the house was transformed into a weekend retreat they call Monkey Cottage, full of color, bold prints, and a playful spirit. "We didn't know anyone in town, but something about the place felt like home."


John and Jason at Their Monkey Cottage

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Lucas Allen

Jason: "We call it Monkey Cottage because it's a place to monkey around. In the winter, we enjoy the snow that accumulates. And on summer days, we just putter around the garden."


John: "I love the fact that we were able to give this old house a longer history. Everything that we've done to bring it back to life is in keeping with the original architectural style, but we've also managed to make it our own."

Funky Kitchen

Room, Green, Interior design, Ceiling, Interior design, Light fixture, Grey, Home accessories, Kitchen, Home,
Lucas Allen

In a house without a dining room, the kitchen does double duty. To distinguish the room, homeowner John Loecke chose bold black cabinetry and white marble counters. In lieu of upper cabinets, he created an arrangement of vintage state plates set against a white wall. A circular window was added, which replicates one on the front of the house.

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Built-In Drawers

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Lucas Allen

Built-in drawers and storage cubbies compensate for no closets.

A Chinese-Inspired Railing

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Lucas Allen

This railing was inspired by a Chinese garden bridge.

Green Bathroom

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Lucas Allen

Faux bathroom paneling was crafted of 4x4's.

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Flea Market Equestrian Prints

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Lucas Allen

Flea-market equestrian prints pop against a chocolate-brown wall.

Colorful Tableware

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Lucas Allen

"By putting a few pieces of large furniture in a small space, a room feels bigger," observes John. "It's a trick of the eye and a fact about decorating that surprises."

Vibrant Bedroom

Interior design, Room, Green, Wall, Ceiling, Lamp, Interior design, Linens, Bookcase, Shelf,
Lucas Allen

"We're both crazy about color," explains Jason. "It energizes and excites a space. In a small house such as ours, color works to expand the horizons of what might otherwise be seen as just a really tight space." The use of graphic prints and lively colors throughout keeps the focus away from the actual small-scale dimensions of the cottage. In the master bedroom, sunny-yellow paint and an exuberant green-and-white print enlivens the small space. The low-pitched roof created a seemingly unusable three-foot-high gap on each side of the room. A carpenter was contracted to fill one side with bookshelves, and the other with cabinets and storage drawers.

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Using Patterns

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Lucas Allen

"The trick to combining many patterns in a room is to choose a common color scheme," says John. "A variety of bold patterns won't clash when linked by a limited palette." To avoid overwhelming the space, John advises using no more than two large-scale prints and keeping other patterns geometric.

Glassware Display

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Lucas Allen

John groups his flea market finds according to color, type, and theme and displays them on walls or open shelving.

Eclectic Living Room

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Lucas Allen

To keep a room visually exciting, John recommends combining furniture of various sizes and heights so the eye is drawn to different points.

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Modern English Country Living Room

eclectic living room with patterned furniture and a chandelier
Lucas Allen

The overall design was meant to harken to the classic interiors found in the English country house of a century ago--rooms filled with antiques, sculptural furniture pieces, and botanical patterns and prints on the walls. John and Jason reinterpreted the look, however, by introducing some decidedly offbeat pieces, including silver scallop sconces, giraffe print pillows, and a tropical-inspired chandelier.

Patterned Pillows

giraffe and criss cross patterned pillows
Lucas Allen

Throughout the house, John used ribbons to embellish curtains, lampshades, and pillows. "Decorating with ribbons is inexpensive, easy, and the color and pattern possibilities are endless," says John. In his book John Loecke's Grosgrain Style (Potter Craft), John shares his clever how-to projects, one of which is this layered ribbon square that can be applied with a hot-glue gun and completed in five minutes. The lime-green ribbon echoes the piping, while the white stitching bordering the brown ribbon fosters a modern look. The lattice print fabric of the pillow in the background inspired John to transform pillows with ribbon.

Seahorse Sculpture

white seahorse sculpture
Lucas Allen

As an avid collector of ribbon, antique garden statuary, and 1950s glassware, John uses this home as the ultimate venue for displaying the treasures he picks up at flea markets around the world.

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House Tours

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