Property of Mr. and Mrs. Allen Hulburts, New Canaan, Conn. | architect: Roy Binkley

Near the hearth in the glass-walled living room of the Allen Hurlburts’ house in New Canaan, Conn., stands a painted rocking chair that has refreshed and solaced four generations of Hurlburts. Happily at home in its contemporary setting, yet highly expressive of continuity with the past, this chair symbolizes the atmosphere of the whole house and the feelings that brought it into being. Unmistakably contemporary, and designed for commuters rather than farmers, the house is nevertheless a true descendant of the old Connecticut farmhouses. It reflects the Hurlburts’ abiding attachment to regional traditions and, at the same time, their wholehearted commitment to today’s way of living.

Mr. Hurlburt’s family had always lived in this part of Connecticut, and he and his wife had lived in the neighborhood for some time, in a Colonial house. They loved its aura of warmth and the intimacy of its scale. But anticipating the arrival of daughter Susan, they were beginning to feel pressed for space and increasingly confined by the small rooms and tiny windows. Professional training in the arts (he is art director of a leading magazine) had given them respect and understanding for contemporary design, so a contemporary house was their natural and inevitable choice.

Mr. Hurlburt roughed out sketches of what they had in mind, and called in architect Roy Binkley (designer of an adventurous house shown in October H&G). During a weekend visit with them he was able to discover just what they loved about their old house, as well as the special assets of their new site and the regional character of other houses nearby. 

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source: House and Garden Magazine | November 1962