New Hampshire Home January-February 2025 - 59

Nidu, which Nane established in 2015, is derived from the
Latin word for nest.
Nane's nest is feathered with inspiration from her family.
Her maternal grandmother, the daughter of a diplomat, traveled
extensively and gave every object in her
house a place of respect. Her grandfather was
a painter and collector who owned a store that
introduced Scandinavian furniture to his native
Venezuela.
" I see each project as weaving together
chosen threads into a unique fabric, " she says.
" In this case, I had to consider four threads: the
past - the new space has to stay true to the
original; the present - its use as a guest house;
the future - the clients want it to belong to
one of their sons; and the context - the house
is in a wooded area in a small town that's filled
with cultural attractions. "
To tie the three buildings together thematically
and aesthetically, they copied the blackand-white
color palette of the main house,
which had already been repeated in the smaller
barn visible from the living room of the guest
house.
Working with Peterborough-based architect
Leonard Pagano, they stripped the structure
to the studs and developed a floor plan that
created two spaces on the first floor - an openplan
living room, dining room and kitchen on
one side and private spaces on the other.
Above the primary suite, they created a loft
for a yoga and meditation room that's decorated
with wooden and iron bells collected by the
owners that are hung from the ceiling like a vertical mobile
sculpture. It's reached via a ladder. There's also an office that's
accessible via a black spiral staircase.
The barn and its smaller sibling, which has a massive
stone chimney, were clad in identical engineered clapboard
siding to match the white color of the main house's facade.
The barn's fenestration was amplified and opened up to
" humanize " its use as the guest house, Nane says, adding that
two new windows are positioned in sculptural squares that
usher the light down into the space in a dramatic manner.
When decorating the space, Nane again took her cues from
the main residence, giving the barn a more modernist look.
The main house's austere black-and-white color palette
is evident in every room of the converted barn. The guest
house's walls are white, punctuated with black details, including
the barn door that divides the first-floor spaces and the
Sisters Nane, left, and Carmen Blohm are the founders of Nidu Studio in Peterborough.
traditional mantelpiece in the main house. Its square shape is
accented and flanked by a pair of rectangular openings where
chopped wood is stored in an artistic pattern. The wall is illuminated
by a pair of deeply set square windows.
In the kitchen, the charcoal-color cabinets, selected because
they are made of recycled materials, are a contemporary counterpoint
to the main home's traditional ones, which are white.
The countertops - resilient white Quartzite for the guest
house and black soapstone in the main house - are opposites
that attract comparison.
The mix of furnishings and decorative items includes old
and new pieces as well as collections of objects the family has
gathered through decades of travel around the world.
The choice of Ikea kitchen cabinets and Crate & Barrel
beds, Carmen notes, " creates a beautiful space, where nothing
is precious. Mixing vintage in, which we do in all our projects,
January/February 2025 57
entry hall's coat rack, a Scandinavian sculpture whose levers
open and close for hanging cloaks.
The living room is centered around a fireplace with a 5-foothigh
black steel surround that references the black-painted
PHOTO COURTESY NIDU
New Hampshire Home January-February 2025

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