The House in Good Taste

Recently, The Red Shutters had the privilege of participating in the historic restoration and decoration of the Peter Kean Bedroom at Liberty Hall Museum in Union, NJ. This entry tells the story of our work in collaboration with our clients and caretakers there.

Background. Beginning with its construction in 1772 and continuing through its life as a museum beginning in 1949, Liberty Hall has served as the real and symbolic home of two of New Jersey’s most esteemed and successful political families, the Livingstons and the Keans. Liberty Hall housed the first Governor of New Jersey, William Livingston—who served from 1776 through 1790—and his wife Susannah French. In 1811, Livingston’s niece Susan Livingston Kean purchased the property with her son Peter Kean, and it has remained under the auspices of the Kean family ever since.

Before. The challenge was to update the Peter Kean Bedroom, making it at once more appealing to visitors and more true to history. The picture below shows the room in its “before” stage, the result of a prior restoration completed approximately 50 years ago.

The Peter Kean Bedroom, before The Red Shutters restoration.

Inspirations. There are many sources of design and decorating inspiration in the home and on the property. First, there is an impressive collection of 18th century American furniture resident in the home. Second, there is the dashing figure of Peter Kean himself, embodied in the display of his original Navy uniform from the War of 1812. Third, there is a majestic Horse Chestnut tree situated directly outside the bedroom window. Planted in the 1760′s before the house was built, the tree impressed us as a visual echo of the proud Livingston and Kean family trees.

The Livingston and Kean “Family Tree.”

An Eighteenth Century Chest.

Process. To guide the restoration and decoration, we first prepared a concept board including our inspirations, Peter Kean’s belongings, and other essential pieces of historical reference. We presented this board to our client and other interested parties several times, each time fine-tuning the board to their comments and opinions. Once the board was approved, we executed all of the pieces and assembled them into the finished room.

Table filled with inspirations and ideas.

Concept board with Kean uniform at center.

Elements. The following three pairs of photographs show key features of the room in before and after modes. The first pair of photos below showcases the bed, with historically appropriate fabric by Lee Joffa. The fabric features a tree pattern, reminding us of the family genealogy.

Peter Kean’s bed before restoration.

Peter Kean’s bed after restoration.

The second pair of photos presents Peter Kean’s lolling chair, now upholstered with classic green Schumacher fabric. In addition, beautiful Farrow & Ball paper now adorns the walls above the chair rail.

The third pair of photos shows the fireplace in the Peter Kean Bedroom before and after our restoration.

Peter Kean’s lolling chair before restoration.

Peter Kean’s lolling chair after restoration.

Peter Kean’s fireplace before restoration.

Peter Kean’s fireplace after restoration.

Finally, below is the window treatment and the chest corner after the restoration of the Peter Kean Bedroom was completed.

Window treatment after restoration.

Chest corner after restoration.

After! And here it is, a panorama of the finished Peter Kean Bedroom, historically restored and decorated by The Red Shutters:

The Peter Kean Bedroom at Liberty Hall, after historic restoration and decoration.

Thank You! The funding for this room’s restoration was made possible by the 2011 Ladies of Liberty Hall fundraiser. The Red Shutters would like to thank The Ladies, our clients Bill Schroh and Rachael Goldberg, and most especially the Kean family for the privilege of working on this historic and fun restoration at beautiful Liberty Hall!

Thanks to The Ladies of Liberty Hall!

Thanks to the wonderful Kean family and Director, William Schroh.

The beautiful gardens of Liberty Hall.

Please visit the Liberty Hall Museum website and the Museum itself!

Marina