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American Beauty

30-acre estate in upstate New York

After time running her own business, 3 years at Osborne and Little and London's famous Colnaghi Gallery Selina van der Geest found herself packing up and moving to New York in 2000. Newly married to a Dutch-born gemologist and living partly in the city and in up-state Dutchess county Selina began to think about building a home and a business. The couple sketched out a barn-style house design while in a Paris cafe, acquired a stunning 30-acre piece of land, part of an old farm, and Selina found herself as project manager and general builders mate. The timber framed house is made of 80 year old barn boards found in Canada along with the Hemlock interior beams. At about the time of the building Selina began showing 19C French drawings and various objects she had collected in the nearby town of Millbrook and undertook a house renovation job for a client. Her reputation spread and projects grew so Selina rented an old cottage to house her shop/showroom, NLGB, where she shows her own range of furniture, co-ordinates design projects and sells antique furniture and rugs.