THE HUT

Fantastical journey in the heart of Middleburg

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTOINE SCHNECK WRITTEN AND STYLED BY CORINNE BENSAHEL

Eight years ago New York-based businessman Jeffrey Steiner bought this slice of Middleburg farm heaven from the Archbold family and quickly added finishing touches to make it a home design masterpiece.

This extraordinary and delightful property does not conform easily to limitations. The Hut is anything but a hut. Playful follies, gargoyles, bottle-bottom windows and Asian art and antiques merge with the restraint of ornamentation proscribed by classical Italian renaissance architecture. The original Hut was an attractive, very simple and somewhat rustic structure surrounded by beautiful oak trees. It was a beloved retreat of the Archbold family, as was their Washington estate Hillandale, and sentiment favored retaining the character of each with new construction. The challenge was to blend two patently different styles of architecture into one harmonious whole, because, while Hillandale was a Tuscan Renaissance-style palazzo, The Hut was a mid-twentieth century American contemporary. Of greater necessity perhaps, were the quantities of antique furniture and tapestries, fine paintings, objets d’art, and a delicate pipe organ that would be transferre

"THE INTIMACY of the old Hut survives in one section, leading to a fresh change of scenery when entering the grand salon. Here one encounters a perfect replica of the Tuscany Villa ballroom found in the Hillandale mansion owned by Ricardo and Isabel Ernst."

A view from the side of the house, which includes the glass domed roof of the indoor swimming pool in the forefront and a pigeon coup behind it	The many extensions to the house can be identified through their differing roof levels.

A contemporary painting by Chinese artist Yue Min-Jung in the breakfast room greets guests each morning.

The guest bedroom, infused with a classic French Provencal style keeps visitors cozy with 19th century quilts and charming paintings.	The ballroom is filled with antique pieces including the main attraction, a 1920's organ originally intended for Hillandale's Tuscon villa-inspired ballroom.

The amorphous indoor swimming reflects the glass-doomed roof as well as Versace's style.	A western motif greats visitors in the den.

this Remington bronze statue guards the den.	the warmth of the dining is achieved using Venetian plaster, deep reds, Orientalist drawings and a terracotta horse also purchased in Hong Kong

Terracotta warriors invade the library - the antique statues were purchases by Steiner in Hong Kong