Anthony Cutugno & Benjamin Mauldin
French Fairytale Country Lifestyle…In Waccabuc
Photography: Rauna Faure
Tony is currently the Director of Global Luxury at William Pitt & Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty, and after nearly a half-century as a luxury residential real estate agent, he’s been around long enough to know the history of what seems like just about every house and family in the Bedford area.
...And it gives him obvious pleasure telling the history of the fabulous French Norman Tudor in Waccabuc that he and his partner, Ben Mauldin, call home.
“It was once the stable and kennel of the prominent Mason family main residence up the road and eventually subdivided from the main property.”
“Mrs. Mason converted the barn and stable into her main residence and added a turret, so typical in French Norman design, to accommodate a new kitchen. An additional barn houses a three car garage and studio. Last occupied by Harding Mason, the son of the original creator, it came on the market in 2000. Quite coincidentally, I represented Jane Amsterdam who had been living at the legendary Finch Farm in North Salem, in purchasing the property. She had a young son who was a born naturalist that loved roaming the property and wetlands. Jane was an avid carriage driver and in 2002 hired an architect to design a four stall barn in keeping with the Norman architecture. When Jane called me in 2015 and told me she was ready to sell, I brought Ben over to have a look at the property so he could write the copy for the brochure I’d be putting together…and Ben and I decided we wanted it!”
“I was living in Kent, CT where I renovated one of the Grand Old Victorians on Main Street and went on to renovate and flip a dozen apartments behind the Victorian. Also with my passion for cooking, I owned the local bakery and cafe, Stroble’s” Ben explains. “When Tony brought me to see this house, I knew immediately that we had to do whatever we needed in order to make it ours! I needed to sell Kent and Tony wanted to sell Barnbrook Farm in South Salem. We also had a house in a small town called Gordes in the South of France, where we used to go four or five times a year and spend quite a bit of time. We had several acres of vines producing about 500 bottles a year. We chose to sell the house in Provence now that we were acquiring a French house in Waccabuc. And Jane, who just knew we were the right folks to be the next stewards of the property, waited patiently for nearly a year for us to get our ducks in a row.”
“We’ve just completed a partial renovation of the main house which included a redesign of the primary suite, and added cabinetry to display our collection of Faïence d’Apt that we acquired during our time in France. We had to move into the cottage for a time,” Tony says, “but it’s actually pretty comfortable, light and airy, and has a really special upstairs bedroom with a fireplace. We’d completed the renovation of the guest house shortly after we moved in ten years ago. Overall, when we’re decorating, I’m more in charge of picking the furniture and Ben is best with picking the colors. We’ve focused an enormous amount of time and attention over the last decade working on improving and maintaining this fabulous property.”
“We loved the way Mrs. Mason had planted the apple orchard on the south side of the house in wooden boxes, so we copied the style when we added a second orchard on the north side of the house,” Tony elaborates. “I believe we have eight different ancient apple tree varieties, and we added cherries, peaches, pears, apricots and nectarines. We renovated an old chicken coop under the carriage barn and enjoy a steady production of delicious organic eggs. Since we decided not to have horses, we planted the paddocks with a crop of corn on the eastern side of the property. Over a five year period, we converted the large paddocks into a wild flower meadow that blooms from April to October. And we designed the gardens as an amalgam of the gardens in the French countryside we’ve experienced. We expanded the perennial flower beds on the south side and created a raised-bed vegetable garden on the north, growing arugula, radishes, lettuce, parsnips, beets, peppers, and lots and lots of tomatoes. The herb bed next to the kitchen door has about a dozen herbs that we use all summer, adding to the diets of our hens and making sure we have treats for our Brussels Griffons, Buster Brown and Pointdexter, who’s the real goober, always running after the geese. We have strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and a blueberry patch.
Big proponents of farm-to-table, we eat out of our garden all summer long and happily share with friends and neighbors. Last year we canned about four dozen jars of tomatoes and we make jams and preserves with our peaches, pears, and berries, giving our signature jars instead of a bottle of wine when we are invited to visit friends.”
“And speaking of the geese,” Tony continues, “...we do have quite a bit of wildlife around. We’ve seen beaver and muskrats in the streams, there are bobcats and coyotes and deer, and ever-vigilant hawks constantly surveying their prey amidst a sky full with colorful birds - who all sing to us each morning.”
“We both really like to cook and we’re really particular about what we eat”, Ben proclaims. “I’m a better cook than Tony, but Tony is a better baker…although I believe my coconut cake is second to none! And although we share in just about all the work and chores around the house, Tony probably has primary responsibility for the vegetable garden and I could be called the primary chef in the kitchen.” Tony adds, “We eat so much better at home than anything available at any restaurants. And when we’re entertaining, we’d vastly prefer to host small groups of friends here than take the party elsewhere. For our friends from New York, a summer weekend staying in the cottage is like taking a wellness retreat in Provence. And on any perfect winter Sunday, we’re gathered with friends in the kitchen around whatever Ben is preparing and a good game of Rummy Cube.”
“I still do residential renovations, although I’m now predominantly focused in Jefferson, Texas,” Ben expands. “I grew up in Jefferson. My father and his father owned a sawmill, which is where I learned how to work with wood. Jefferson is a historic town with brick streets and a popular weekend destination out of Dallas. Jay Gould ruled the town when he ‘brought the railroad to the river’, and his railroad car is now part of a museum there commemorating that past. I’m involved in the local historical society and recently donated a table to Gould’s railroad car’s continuing restoration. I went to Baylor for college, and on graduation day, got on a plane to New York City to start my new life…but I knew there was opportunity back there, and so about fifteen years ago, I bought the old First National Bank Building and turned it into residential lofts, and I’ve been doing projects there ever since. I renovated a Creole-style house that we use when I’m down there…which we filled with an assortment of our arts and antiques without even making a dent in what we’ve collected over the years. It’s got a much more eclectic feel than our purely French-style in Waccabuc. I hate to think of us as collectors, but it’s hard to deny we have at least several houses of furniture and art that we’ve accumulated, mostly in France.”
“Yeah, I’m a Francophile at heart!” Tony agrees. “I went to college at Franklin & Marshall, but the best thing that happened to me was when my dad supported my doing my junior-year-abroad in France, on the proviso that it not be in Paris. I went to the University of Strasbourg, in the middle of nowhere…but in the middle of Europe and the epicenter of my new world! Being immersed in a French university, rather than an American program, and travelling to see the great houses of France, Italy, and England, I was absorbed, and residential real estate became my passion. …And my dream ever since my junior year in Strasbourg has been…to describe it simply…to be indulged in the French country lifestyle Ben and I are living here now!”
