The 2019 This Old House Idea House in New Canaan, Connecticut, is a master class in residential design, showing that a home can feel spacious yet intimate when each room receives careful attention. With five bedrooms and five en suite bathrooms spread across three floors, this Greek Revival property challenged the team to create spaces that felt connected yet unique. The result is a home where every suite tells its own story while contributing to a cohesive whole. For those who followed The Modern Barnhouse Vision Colin Oglesbay And The 2021 This Old House Idea House, the 2019 edition offers a different but equally compelling approach to modern family living.
The Master Suite as a Wellness Sanctuary
The master suite occupies a privileged position on the second floor, designed from the start as a retreat for rest and daily comfort. The bedroom itself establishes the tone with a palette of rich grays and warm wood tones that create a serene and sophisticated ambience. A large circular flush-mount ceiling light and a round area rug soften the room’s angles, inviting relaxation from the moment you step inside.
An ivory upholstered headboard stands out against an ebony-stained character-oak feature wall that anchors the sleeping area. On either side of the bed, large art niches fitted with recessed LED lights draw the eye upward and create gallery-style displays for paintings. This layering of textures proves a bedroom can be both dramatic and restful when each element is chosen with intention. The project also demonstrates how older structures can be reimagined for modern comfort, similar to the approach covered in Fhb House 2023 A New Life For An Abandoned House, where existing buildings gain new purpose through thoughtful renovation.
Health and wellness technology plays a prominent role in the master suite. A compact smart sensor on the nightstand continuously monitors indoor air quality, tracking carbon dioxide levels that can rise during sleep in airtight modern homes. When thresholds are crossed, the sensor automatically activates the ventilation system to purify the air. This invisible integration of healthy home technology ensures that the bedroom supports not just comfort but genuine physiological well-being throughout the night.
Opposite the bed, an indoor-outdoor see-through fireplace offers views through to the treetops beyond. The fireplace is surrounded by sleek 4-by-8-foot porcelain slabs that provide durability and visual continuity. Wiring already run inside the fireplace wall means the artwork hanging there could be replaced with a flat-panel television if desired. Blackout shades on the French doors leading to the balcony make sleep-in mornings possible, while two sets of French doors open onto a private outdoor seating area where a two-sided sealed gas fireplace and manufactured stone veneer accent wall create a space for morning coffee or evening relaxation.
Closet Organization and Bathroom Luxury
The passageway between the master bedroom and the master bathroom demonstrates how thoughtful details elevate everyday routines. Sensors in the heated floor trigger knee-high LED lights for late-night trips, eliminating the need to fumble for switches. Frosted sliding glass doors on either side open onto generous his-and-hers walk-in closets that are a study in efficient organization. In the larger of the two closets, a window brings in natural light supplemented by pendant fixtures and LEDs mounted inside the cabinetry. The smaller, windowless closet features sun tunnels from VELUX that usher in daylight, an especially handy feature for discerning a fabric’s true color when getting dressed. Both closets incorporate a thoughtful mix of drawers, shelves, and hanging space with LED-lit rods and retractable valet rods that make wardrobe selection effortless. For a deeper look at fenestration choices in showcase homes, read Window Selection For The Farmhouse In Fairfield County Marvin Windows In The This Old House Idea House.
The master bathroom takes dramatic advantage of the home’s original architectural windows and gable roofline. A soaring ceiling captures daylight from the fanlight, frieze lights, and six-over-six double-hung windows, as well as solar-powered skylights positioned above the tub. The freestanding soaker tub serves as the focal point, made of a limestone-resin mix that retains heat better than acrylic while avoiding the weight of cast iron. Large-format porcelain wall tile with the look of marble is finished with aluminum edge banding around the windows for a sleek contemporary finish.
The shower is equally impressive, offering steam, chromotherapy, and aromatherapy through a MrSteam system, plus a rain showerhead, handheld wand, and traditional showerhead. The floor and bench are heated via electric radiant heat mats, and a prefab niche keeps soap and shampoo within reach. Curvy quartz-topped vanities on opposite sides of the room have the graceful lines of fine furniture with touch-latch drawers. State-of-the-art mirrors integrate LED lighting, defogging technology, and built-in sound systems operated by integrated switch or smartphone app. The thoughtful compartmentalization of the space includes a frosted glass door on the toilet room and another on the shower, framing the approach to the tub.
Bedrooms Tailored to Childhood Wonder and Teen Independence
The 2019 Idea House dedicates significant square footage to bedrooms that respect the distinct needs of children at different developmental stages. The child’s mountain-wilderness-themed bedroom is built for both sleep and play, with promises of adventure at every turn. The vaulted ceiling follows the pitch of the original front gable and provides an ideal spot for hanging a hammock-chair swing. A pint-sized picnic table beneath a whimsical butterfly scroll and a collection of woodland friends complete this outdoorsy retreat.
The showpiece of the room is a tent bed with roll-up curtains that makes bedtime feel like camping indoors. A hand-painted mountain mural serves as the backdrop for a rock-climbing wall that leads to a tucked-away loft play space, while a rowboat-shaped bookshelf holds prized possessions and a fox-shaped laundry hamper stands guard by the door. The en suite bathroom carries the adventurous spirit into its design, where elongated white and black hex field tiles create a sawtooth pattern on the vanity wall, framing a black quartz-topped console sink. This playful yet practical approach mirrors the philosophy examined in Inside The This Old House Idea House How Showcase Homes Inspire Real World Design, where showcase homes prove that material choices can be both beautiful and practical for family living.
A second bedroom in the historic part of the Greek Revival house takes a more sophisticated approach with a modern interpretation of Chippendale wallpaper creating an accent wall. The builders left an original beam exposed, connecting the room to the home’s history. An iconic globe chair from the 1960s offers a surprisingly comfortable place to curl up with a book, while a solar-powered skylight makes the vaulted ceiling feel even loftier. The same indoor air quality sensor found in the master suite monitors conditions here too, ensuring healthy sleep across all bedrooms.
A third bedroom embraces a beach theme with a wallpapered accent wall featuring intricately illustrated sunbathers enjoying a day at the shore. A vintage-style iron bed frame outfitted in pretty pinks anchors the room, and the design proves that wallpaper need not be overwhelming when used on a single accent wall. On the third floor, a bedroom tucked into the eaves features a pair of built-in platform beds that are ideal for sleepovers or teens seeking a private retreat. An inexpensive bicycle picked up from Craigslist gets new life with a coat of metallic navy spray paint, demonstrating that thoughtful style need not come with a high price tag.
Tile, Texture, and Finishing Details
Across all five bathrooms, tile selection emerges as the unifying design element that ties the home together while allowing each space its own personality. The material choices demonstrate how tile can define a room’s character without overwhelming it.
| Bathroom | Primary Tile | Accent Feature | Design Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master Bath | Marble-look large-format porcelain | Aluminum edge banding | Sleek contemporary uniformity |
| Child’s Bath | White and black hex field tile | Sawtooth pattern on vanity wall | Playful geometric contrast |
| Second-Floor Bath | 12×24 ceramic subway tile | Black linear pencil tile accents | Modern take on traditional subway |
| Sunbather Bath | Three complementary gray porcelain designs | Harmonized gray tones | Cohesive yet distinct zones |
| Third-Floor Bath | Pebble-stone mosaic and brick-style subway | Pebble on ceiling and floor | Textural warmth and contrast |
The master bath uses marble-look large-format porcelain throughout, with aluminum edge banding around windows for a clean, contemporary finish. The child’s bathroom takes a more playful approach with elongated hex tiles in a sawtooth pattern on the vanity wall. The second-floor black-and-white bathroom features supersize 12-by-24-inch ceramic tiles that offer a modern interpretation of traditional subway tile, accented with black linear pencil tiles for visual interest. All showers in the house incorporate linear drains for a streamlined look, and Schluter-Systems products appear throughout for floor warming, window profiles, and edge finishing.
The sunbather bedroom’s en suite bath showcases three distinct porcelain tile designs in complementary shades of gray, proving that variety within a palette creates harmony rather than chaos. On the third floor, a mini pebble-stone mosaic tile creates a textural accent wall behind the washstand sink and is repeated on the shower floor and ceiling. This is paired with textured brick-style subway tiles on the shower walls and oversize hexagon porcelain floor tiles that mimic Carrara marble. A solid-oak panel door adds warmth to the otherwise cool gray-and-white palette, a reminder that natural materials provide the perfect counterpoint to tile’s manufactured precision.
What the 2019 Idea House Teaches About Modern Home Design
The five bedroom suites of the 2019 Idea House demonstrate that a multi-bedroom home need not sacrifice personality for consistency. Each suite respects the needs of its intended occupant while contributing to a coherent architectural vision. The master suite prioritizes wellness and comfort with air quality monitoring, smart lighting, and a spa-like bathroom. The children’s rooms embrace imagination and play through themed decor and flexible furniture. The guest bedrooms offer sophistication and comfort that suit a range of ages and tastes.
Several principles from this project apply directly to real-world home design and renovation projects:
- Invest in the spaces you use daily: the master bathroom and closets benefit enormously from radiant floor heating, quality fixtures, and thoughtful storage.
- Use tile as a design tool rather than an afterthought, selecting materials that unify the home while allowing each room its own expression.
- Integrate technology invisibly so it supports daily life without dominating it.
- Honor the architecture of your home by working with existing windows, rooflines, and beams rather than concealing them.
For more on how principle-driven design translates into comfortable family living, see Designing Bedrooms And Baths With Purpose Lessons From A Modern Idea House.
From the serene master suite with its indoor-outdoor fireplace and therapeutic steam shower to the whimsical children’s rooms with tent beds and rock-climbing walls, every bedroom and bathroom in the 2019 Idea House serves as proof that thoughtful design elevates daily life. Whether you are building new or renovating an existing home, the lessons from this New Canaan project offer a roadmap for creating spaces that are equal parts beautiful, functional, and personal.