From lilacs to songbirds to blue sky, Alicia Zalka translated the

NaturalInstinct
From lilacs to songbirds to blue sky, Alicia Zalka
translated the prettiest elements of the great outdoors into
colorful inspiration for her Connecticut home.
W r i t t e n b y c e l i a m c g e e • p h o t o g r a p h s b y Lu c a s A l l e n
s t y l i ng by k a r i n l i db ec k - b r e n t
The first thing Alicia Zalka did upon moving into her Litchfield
County, Connecticut, house? Plant lilacs. Her property now
boasts nine flowering bushes. opposite Zalka’s Federal-style
home, which sits on three and a half acres, was constructed
in 1808 from bricks made on-site.
85
Come springtime, every vase, urn, and pitcher in
Alicia Zalka’s collection fills up with fresh lilacs.
T
hrowing a birthday party
for a house presents a challenge
that might flummox even Miss
Manners, Letitia Baldrige, or Emily
Post. But in 2008, when Alicia Zalka
decided to host a bash for her Litchfield County,
Connecticut, home’s 200th year, she knew precisely
how to go about it. First she rounded up 50 friends
to toast the guest of honor. Then Zalka planned a
dreamy afternoon snack—champagne plus bonbons
from the local Bridgewater Chocolate company. The
main event was, however, the cake: an exact replica of
the Federal-style structure, all the way down to the
brickwork (fashioned from red fondant), and topped
with 200 candles. It was particularly important
to get those sugary blocks just right, since the actual
bricks “were pressed right here on the property,”
Zalka explains.
You can’t blame her for wanting to celebrate her
home. And not just because the place is gorgeous,
inside and out. Zalka, a dermatologist, had to travel a
long and winding road to get here. Twelve years ago,
when she first spied the 4,100-square-foot property,
she was sure she’d found the house of her dreams—
before she even entered it. But her real estate agent
tried to dispel any such notion, cautioning, “Don’t
be silly, it’s out of your price range.” Undeterred, Zalka
made an offer, only to see it rejected. A year passed.
The doctor looked at nearly 50 other places, none of
which lived up to the one that got away. And then,
Zalka designed the kitchen herself, choosing Benjamin Moore’s
Iced Slate for the custom cabinets and island. Passed down from
the home’s former owners, the rush-seat stools were originally
a mahogany brown before Zalka painted them white.
March 2010
. count ryliving.com . 87
“I’m a nester—a bird person. I love anything that
looks like sky and clouds, in blue and gray.”
Blue piping
adds subtle
punch to
neutral
upholstery.
a bov e lef t In the sunroom, a bird statue by Two’s Company stands alongside a vintage vase. a bov e
right Zalka and her yellow Lab Willow take a stroll. opposite Thomas O’Brien’s Corsaro rug unites
the living room’s palette. The sofa is from Cobble Court. A Ballard Designs ottoman, wearing a custom
slipcover, serves as a coffee table. Zalka painted the walls in Marilyn’s Dress by Benjamin Moore.
out of the blue, the phone rang—her original offer
had been accepted.
Upon moving in, Zalka realized her existing
furniture barely filled one-quarter of the sprawling
house. And while the residence was in generally good
condition, it did need some vital renovations, starting
with a kitchen overhaul that included installing new
cupboards and ripping up flooring to update the
plumbing. But first things first: Before tackling the
task of making the inside of her dream house a reality,
Zalka planted lilac bushes by the front door, a New
England custom that thrilled the self-professed “lilac
fanatic.” Today, the property features nine full-grown
bushes, with blooms ranging in color from white to
deep purple—and the interior of Zalka’s home serves
as a tribute to those lush hues.
The master bedroom springs to life with a
jaw-dropping paint treatment of lavender-gray and
cool white stripes on the floor. (“I was influenced
to try that after seeing a similar floor at a Ralph
Lauren store in New York City,” Zalka recalls. “It took
about two weeks of trial and error to get everything
just right!”) In the kitchen, which she designed herself,
a perfect garden blue adorns the custom cabinetry.
Elsewhere, touches of creamy white and warm pink
pop up. Come springtime, every vase, urn, and
pitcher in Zalka’s considerable collection fills up with
fresh lilacs and foliage from her garden.
She doesn’t divine inspiration from flowers alone,
though. “I’m a nester—a bird person,” Zalka says. “I
love anything that looks like sky and clouds, in colors
like blue and gray.” She’s particularly drawn to robins’
egg blue, which shows up in her living room’s voluptuous Thomas O’Brien rug, the upholstery on a Louis
XVI chair, and even the piping that trims a beige
herringbone sofa. And for a stunning touch of realism,
Zalka uses a 1950s shadowbox-style table to display
the little nests she finds swept to (continued on page 92)
March 2010
. count ryliving.com . 89
Create a private
hideaway with a
simple tension rod
and curtains.
When Zalka first
spied the property, she
was sure she’d
found the house of her
dreams—before
she even entered it.
a bov e Willow takes a nap in a reading area just off the kitchen.
Zalka revived an old sofa and chair with scallop-hemmed slipcovers
and paired the pieces with an antique tray table and a simple sisal
rug. lef t In the attic, Zalka designed an ultracozy sleeping nook
framed by the home’s original 1808 wood beams. The bedding is by
John Robshaw, the striped rug from Dash & Albert.
March 2010
. count ryliving.com . 91
“I love my home, but I don’t know that I’ll ever feel
like this place is done. It’s a real evolution.”
a bov e left The master bedroom’s pale blue–and-white color scheme gets a jolt from sapphire curtains. The
room’s French doors lead to a private porch above a pergola. above right Framed by custom shelves, a
BainUltra extra-wide tub commands center stage in the master bath. opposite Zalka used high-gloss deck
paint to create the stripes on her bedroom floor and Martin Senour’s Silver Sequin for the walls. Among her
favorite antiques finds: the painted Gustavian dresser and chairs. The pillows are from the Sandor Collection.
(continued from page 89) ground after storms, sometimes
with bits of blue-tinged shell still tucked inside.
That Zalka so embraces nature wasn’t always a
given. Now she loves nothing more than working in
the garden with her trio of Labrador retrievers—Willow, Olive, and Aspen—by her side. But the Long
Island native grew up in a split-level rancher with
practically no yard to speak of. And rather than
playing outside, she whiled away much of her childhood indoors, reading. “I was the kind of girl who read
shelter magazines instead of fashion publications,” she
recalls. “I would grab them and devour them before
my mom could!” In fact, Zalka credits the airy,
blue-and-white richness of her master bedroom to an
inspiring swatch of Provençal fabric she saw pictured
in this magazine several years ago.
Zalka also developed her appreciation for muted
colors and delicate, 18th-century Gustavian pieces
92 . countryliving.c om . March 2010
by spending time with her father, who owned a
furniture shop. “I learned a lot by going to trade shows
with my dad,” Zalka says. “And I loved going with
him to other stores—especially Ethan Allen, where I’d
pretend the showroom was my house!”
These days, one of the doctor’s favorite spots in her
own home is the attic sleeping loft she designed for
when her nieces stay over. “If I’m feeling under the
weather, that’s the best spot in the world to nap,” she says.
Even when Zalka’s in perfect health, she still sneaks
up there to daydream about new decorating schemes
and renovation ideas. “I love my home,” she explains,
“but I don’t know that I’ll ever feel like this place is
done. It’s a real evolution.” One she’ll no doubt want
to document again with a celebratory bash.
A contributor to The New York Times and The Daily Beast,
Celia McGee lives in Connecticut.
Painted
stripes turn
a wood
floor into a
work of art.
See shop guide, page 130, for where to buy some of the items in Zalka’s home.