The Orchard Project

Modern kitchen with dark wood cabinets, marble island, black bar stools, and pendant lights over a spacious open layout.

Designer & Stylist

Gabrielle Messina

Location

Dillsburg, Pennsylvania

photographer

Kinna Shaffer

Dark walnut kitchen cabinets with marble island, black bar stools, and pendant light over hardwood floors.

Marble kitchen island with dark wood drawers, brass handles, two red wine glasses, cutting board, and a bottle of Lillet.

Situated on an old orchard, The Orchards was designed around the rolling countryside it sits in. The material palette is deliberately old: rich walnut, hand-troweled plaster, Carrara marble, local stone and slate, drawn together with clean, modern lines. The house was built for two sensibilities at once — modern and clean for him, traditional and rooted in the past for her — and the work was in letting them share a room without friction. It's a home meant to be lived in for a long time, and built to get better with age.

Entry

The entry runs as a corridor wrapped in warm oak, with floating shelves along one wall and an arched niche that opens to a dark pedestal table. A vintage rug grounds the floor, and the hand-troweled plaster meets the timber in a soft, imperfect seam. The styling stays minimal — a stoneware vessel, a few worn books, a low candle against the near-black table — so the materials carry the space rather than the objects.

A lit multi-wick candle in a stone vessel beside white roses on a dark round table near wooden shelving.

Woman lighting a candle on a dark pedestal table with white flowers, vintage rug, and framed art in a modern home.

Dark moody interior with wooden shelves, a black pedestal table holding white flowers, and a glowing candle on a stone surface.

Built-in wooden shelving unit displaying ceramic vases, bowls, and decorative objects against a stone wall.

A blurred woman carries tropical leaves past wooden built-in shelves displaying vases, bowls, and framed art.

Woman browsing oak built-in shelves displaying ceramic vases, bowls, and decorative objects in a modern interior.

Elegant bathroom with green leaf wallpaper, marble sink, gold mirror, brass sconce, and decorative torso sculpture.

Powder Room

The powder room was designed to feel like the inside of a forest canopy, with a hand-drawn botanical wallpaper running floor to ceiling in greens and shadow. Against it we set a honed marble trough sink and wall-mounted fixtures in aged bronze, chosen to deepen over time. The mirror is a found piece, framed in wood and already worn from another life, lit by a single brass sconce. It's clean, cool marble against a wallpaper that doesn't take itself too seriously — utilitarian and beautiful at once, which is exactly the kind of room we like to design.

Dark walnut kitchen cabinets with marble island, black bar stools, and pendant light on hardwood floors.

The Kitchen

Walnut cabinetry anchors the kitchen, paired with a Carrara island that drops to the floor in a waterfall edge. Two opaline schoolhouse pendants hang over the marble, and a row of black stools tucks under the overhang. The details do the work: the walnut against the veining of the stone, brass pulls left to patina, a professional range with brass knobs set into a niche of honed marble. Open shelving and a tucked alcove hold the everyday — stoneware, a glass hurricane, a bottle of Lillet beside a board of figs — so nothing reads as too precious to use.

Dark walnut kitchen island with marble countertop, black bar stools, and pendant light in modern kitchen.

Modern kitchen with dark walnut cabinets, marble island, black bar stools, and globe pendant lights on hardwood floors.

Elegant kitchen featuring dark wood cabinetry, thick marble waterfall island, globe pendant light, and black bar stools.

Marble kitchen island with fruit bowls and lit candle in glass hurricane, dark wood cabinetry and stone wall in background.

Marble kitchen island with fruit bowls and glass candle holder, dark walnut cabinetry with brass hardware in background.

Luxury kitchen featuring dark wood cabinetry, thick marble waterfall island, black stools, candles, and industrial pendant lighting.

Woman in white robe standing at dark wood kitchen island with marble countertop, black stools, and pendant light.

Woman in white dress at marble kitchen island with fruit bowl and candle, dark wood cabinetry with brass hardware.

Marble kitchen island with brass hardware, two red wine glasses, wooden cutting board, and Lillet bottle on countertop.

Rustic marble surface with figs on wood board, Lillet Blanc bottle, red wine glass, and stone candle holder.

Luxury kitchen with dark walnut cabinets, marble island, and professional stainless steel range with tile backsplash.

Dark walnut panel-front refrigerator with brass handles beside a marble kitchen island and stainless range.

Dark walnut kitchen island with white marble countertop, black bar stools, and globe pendant lights.

Professional stainless steel gas range with brass knobs, tile backsplash, and pot filler in luxury kitchen.

Close-up of professional stainless range with brass knobs, gray zellige tile backsplash, and dark walnut cabinetry.

Marble kitchen niche shelves with glass spice jars, brass pepper mill, and olive oil bottle beside a terracotta plant pot.

Dark green kitchen with gold hardware, open shelving, marble countertops, and black-and-white checkered floor tiles.

The Scullery

The scullery is proof that the most utilitarian rooms can also be the best ones. The floor is a checkerboard of slate and honed marble, a classic foundation that only improves with age, and the cabinetry is finished in a bold, saturated green. Brass hardware runs across the drawers, unlacquered and left to soften from bright gold to something warmer over time. Open shelving and glass-fronted uppers hold the working pieces of the house — bowls, books, a little pottery — arranged without fuss.

Cozy living room with stone fireplace, dark velvet chairs, wood built-ins, and terra cotta pots on mantel.

The Living Room

The living room is built around a wall of local stone that climbs around a blackened, patterned firebox set in a pale, hand-finished surround. We chose velvet swivel chairs in a mossy charcoal, pulled close around a low round table on a neutral rug. Light oak cabinetry flanks the fireplace as a counterpoint to the stone, and a line of terracotta vessels along the mantel ties back to the orchard outside. The palette stays tonal — stone, oak, muted green — and keeps the focus on the view.

Modern sauna interior with cedar wood walls, slatted bench, and large window overlooking a green landscape.

The Wellness Suite

The wellness suite was designed as a sanctuary, balancing marble and oak to echo the countryside outside. His-and-her rift-cut oak vanities topped in Carrara anchor the room, and the soaking tub is clad in custom rift-cut oak panels beneath a wall of stacked marble, positioned to look straight out onto the land. The shower is wrapped floor to ceiling in marble and closed off, when wanted, by custom sliding doors that disappear into a concealed track. Beyond it, a cedar sauna lined in tongue-and-groove planking opens to a full wall of glass — a slatted bench, a slate floor, and a clear view of the green hills. It's a room dedicated to wellness and the views, and one you wouldn't be in a hurry to leave.

Modern bedroom with tall fluted wood headboard, dark bedding, wooden nightstand, and wall-mounted lamp in neutral tones.

The Primary Suite

The suite is built around a fully custom bed floated in the center of the room, with nightstands and bedside lighting integrated into the frame so it takes the views on either side; a reeded oak wall runs behind it, and black linen keeps the palette deep against pale plaster. A seating area at the far end — curved bouclé chairs around a low wood table, anchored by a tall black display cabinet — makes the place to wind down. The bath balances marble and oak, with his-and-her rift-cut oak vanities in Carrara and a soaking tub clad in custom oak panels beneath stacked marble, positioned to look out onto the land. The marble shower closes off behind custom sliding doors set in a concealed track, and a cedar sauna lined in tongue-and-groove opens to a full wall of glass and a clear view of the green hills.