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The Christmas look at this Catskills farmhouse works because it is collected, not coordinated: classic tartan, unfinished wood, greenery, dried fruit, antique objects, and decorations that point back to the outdoors. In a Country Living feature published December 16, 2020, designer Shawn Lang and doctor Kristofer Prepelica showed how those elements transformed their Dutch Colonial farmhouse in Hortonville, New York, into a warm holiday retreat.
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The house was known as the Woodman House when they bought it. The couple had moved from Manhattan looking for a country retreat and fixer-upper, then spent seven years renovating it themselves. The feature described it as a 216-year-old farmhouse and said it had become their full-time residence at the time of publication; those details are historical, not a statement of their current home or activities.
Why this farmhouse feels festive without looking staged
There is no single matching decoration set here. The rooms share a small, repeatable vocabulary instead:
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- Traditional tartan: Black Watch and other Scottish plaids appear on pillows, throws, upholstery, napkins, wrapping paper, and even a pet-like bronze sculpture.
- Materials from outside: Pine cones, evergreen branches, berries, dried oranges, skis, antlers and nature-shaped ornaments connect the interiors to the Catskills landscape.
- Useful old things: Sewing-machine bases, reclaimed pine, cast-iron cookware, milk-painted furniture, sideboards and ironstone are treated as part of daily life rather than precious museum pieces.
- Handmade and found details: DIY stockings, a dried-citrus garland, thrifted upholstery and secondhand tableware keep the decorating personal and attainable.
Lang described the approach as “combining and reimagining old pieces in new ways,” and said the couple looked for pieces with “some connection to the outdoors.” That principle matters more than copying any one object: choose things with a story, a useful function or a natural texture, then repeat a few colors so the rooms relate.
The entry and living room: tartan starts at the door
A working entry display
The entry table is built from an antique Singer sewing-machine base topped with a primitive tabletop. At Christmas, it holds antique wooden skis that Lang bought for $10 at a yard sale, along with a bronze dog sculpture wearing a tartan scarf. Plaid-wrapped presents extend the pattern to the floor without requiring additional permanent furnishings.
To adapt the arrangement, begin with one substantial base, one vertical object and one small seasonal accent. A narrow console, an old bench or a reclaimed board can play the same role as the sewing-machine table. Keep the display shallow enough to preserve the entry’s circulation, and let one unusual found object carry the personality.
A living room organized around the stove
The living room’s main textile is traditional Scottish tartan. It appears in pillows, throws and upholstery, including a $14 thrifted sofa that Lang covered in Black Watch tartan after following YouTube tutorials. The result is deliberately practical rather than formal: a hard-wearing pattern disguises the history of a secondhand frame and gives the room a strong visual anchor.
A bluestone fireplace contains a vintage cast-iron wood stove. Around it, the holiday layer is simple: DIY stockings, greenery threaded with pine cones and dried oranges, and stacks of vintage blankets used as a side table. The blankets add height and storage while remaining available when guests need another layer of warmth.
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Lang has said, “We’re crazy for classic tartans,” and that they “perfectly tie in to our masculine country aesthetic.” If you are mixing several plaids, keep their scale different—such as a large throw with a smaller check—and repeat one dark green, red or cream tone so the patterns do not compete.
The kitchen: preserve character, then make the hard-working parts brighter
Before renovation, the kitchen had dated wallpaper and cabinetry. The couple removed the wallpaper at the range wall and installed white subway tile, then replaced the lower cabinets with white beadboard-fronted doors. A walk-in pantry and two spacious cupboards provided enough storage that upper cabinets were unnecessary.
The renovation did not erase the room’s old-house identity. A hammered-copper apron-front sink was the couple’s one stated splurge, while a picture window frames a country road and dairy farm. The contrast—white tile and cabinets against copper, wood and a rural view—keeps the kitchen bright without making it generic.
Collections supply the small-scale detail. A white built-in cupboard displays Lang’s antique white ironstone and picnic-basket collections. A felt stocking on a doorknob was stitched by Prepelica’s mother for his first Christmas, giving the room a family object that no renovation could substitute. Outside, the property included a flock of twelve hens, including two Silkie hens named Thelma and Louise; the view and the animals reinforce why the decorating repeatedly turns toward nature.
A dining room designed for a crowd
The 13-foot gathering table
Lang built the farm-style dining table from reclaimed heart pine. It is 13 feet long and, in his words, “unbelievably heavy.” The size was intentional: “We wanted something large enough so that everyone could gather.” Benches made from inexpensive lumber and painted matte black provide flexible seating without competing with the tabletop.
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Folded plaid blankets cushion the benches before a meal. For the centerpiece, the couple gathers pine cones, berries and evergreen branches outdoors and arranges them low along the table. A low arrangement leaves sightlines open and can be assembled without a florist, a formal vessel or a matching set of decorations.
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A layered, collected place setting
The reported setting combines vintage Franklin Mint “Gamebirds of the World” china, a seagrass charger, a red tartan napkin and red candles in brass holders. The source links the candle reference to Amazon but names no brand, model or current price. The important design move is the layering of materials—woven seagrass, patterned cloth, painted or illustrated china, warm brass and red wax—not the purchase of an exact product.
For a similar table, use one patterned or illustrated plate as the focal point, then support it with a natural-fiber charger and a single strong napkin color. Keep the centerpiece below eye level and leave enough clear surface for serving dishes.
Tree, transferware and the farmhouse bar
The Christmas tree carries glass ornaments shaped like squirrels, mushrooms and butterflies. These motifs repeat the home’s outdoor theme more subtly than conventional baubles. A dried-citrus garland made by Lang adds color and texture without introducing another pattern.
Original built-in plate racks inspired a collection of blue-and-white transferware. The couple reportedly found pieces at thrift shops and yard sales for no more than $5 apiece. Displaying the plates in the racks makes an architectural feature useful while allowing an inexpensive collection to grow gradually.
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An antique sideboard beside a pass-through window serves as a bar. The couple’s smoky Negroni variation uses equal parts mezcal, Campari and sweet vermouth, poured over ice and finished with juice from one orange. That recipe also explains why oranges appear naturally in the holiday scheme: the same fruit can supply both a drink garnish and dried decoration.
Bedrooms and stairwell: make an old house comfortable
The farmhouse has five bedrooms. Rather than buying matching bedroom suites, the couple used an “old-furniture scavenger hunt,” placing pieces according to their dimensions and function. Horse and hunting artwork, milk-painted furniture and an antique mount called George wearing plaid continue the rural theme without turning every room into a replica of the next.
Flannel sheets address a practical problem in a drafty old house. That is a useful lesson for historic properties: comfort upgrades can be visually consistent when they use the same honest materials as the furniture. In the stairwell, Lang spent nearly four years collecting antique silhouettes. He left each one in its existing frame, including scuffs and scratches, so the grouping feels accumulated rather than freshly manufactured.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The exterior: a restrained white-and-green frame
The exterior is described as crisp white and green, with Fraser-fir garland and a vintage Ford truck. The feature names Behr colors Snowfall and Parsley Sprig, but those were the colors reported in 2020; availability and current formulas should not be assumed. The broader idea is durable: use a light exterior backdrop, evergreen garland and one weathered vehicle or garden object to make the approach feel seasonal without covering every surface.
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The following method is the one printed in the 2020 feature and has not been independently tested here. Treat the baking time as a starting point and watch the fruit closely in your own oven.
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- Thinly slice the fruit. The article recommends navel oranges because their peels are thick.
- Arrange the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Bake at 225°F for one hour on each side.
- Continue only until the slices are completely dry; moisture left in the fruit can shorten the garland’s life.
- Cut a small slit in each dried slice.
- Thread the slices onto plaid ribbon, spacing them as desired.
Use oven mitts when turning the slices and let them cool fully before handling. Hang the finished strand where it will stay dry, and keep dried fruit, ribbon and greenery away from open flames, hot stove surfaces and other heat sources.
A practical way to recreate the look without copying the house
Start with a restrained palette
Choose one tartan, one supporting solid and one natural neutral. Black Watch-style green and navy can sit with red accents and unfinished wood; cream, white ironstone and seagrass keep the combination from becoming visually heavy.
Buy by material and function
Search secondhand sources for objects that solve a problem: a sideboard for serving, a bench for seating, a blanket for warmth, a rack for plates or a table with enough length for the people you host. The farmhouse’s $10 skis, $14 sofa and inexpensive transferware illustrate the value of patience, not a requirement to find identical bargains.
Let one handmade detail carry the season
A citrus garland, a sewn stocking or gathered greenery can do more than a room full of unrelated decorations. Handmade work also makes a rental or recently renovated room feel personal without permanent changes.
Leave evidence of age
The silhouettes remain in scuffed frames, the reclaimed pine shows its history and the antique furniture is not made artificially uniform. Mixing wear with clean white tile or fresh linens creates the tension that makes the rooms feel lived in.
What the 2020 feature establishes—and what it does not
The Country Living story reported a farmhouse in Hortonville, New York, a community it described as having a population of 218, and said Lang and Prepelica’s virtual old-house community had 115,000 followers or members at that time. Those figures belong to the publication’s 2020 reporting and should not be read as current population, audience or ownership data. The feature also said the couple had made the farmhouse their full-time residence and wrote about it through The Farmhouse Project; their present residence and activity are not established here.
What remains useful regardless of date is the decorating method: retain architectural character, combine old and inexpensive finds, repeat a few textiles, gather natural materials and design the dining areas around real hospitality. That is why the house reads as postcard-perfect while still looking ready for muddy boots, a crowded table and another winter.
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