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Loudoun County A renovated century-old barn imparts Italian country-style elegance, thanks to Chiara Langley from Bologna, whose sister runs an inn in Italy. Chiara decided to do the same in Hunt Country after moving from San Francisco with her American husband Roland, a high-powered Washington business executive. “I fell in love with this house,” she explains. “You can see why.” Hidden back in woods and gardens behind a farm pond, The Longbarn is the epitome of a country-elegant retreat. It takes a good imagination to visualize this architect-designed restoration as a barn, despite the abundant barn wood and a loft above the glamorous, soaring living room, with two separate sitting areas below. “This house just keeps going on and on,” says Chiara as she shows the “dinette” used for breakfast beside her large kitchen at one end of the structure and the Garden Room guest quarters at the other end. Here, with a view of the garden, you’ll find a queensize bed dressed with a floral quilt and a down comforter, with matching pillows and fabric draped behind the bed. Head upstairs to a loft dining area so big that the Langleys can entertain 40 for a Thanksgiving buffet dinner. It’s warmed by a museum-quality art collection and terra cotta sculptures by Italian sculptor Don Gianni Gilli. Chiara enticed him to Middleburg to create similar works for St. Stephen the Martyr Church, built three decades earlier for the Kennedys. Off the loft is an expansive deck facing gardens, gazebo and pond. Beyond is the Blue Room, named for its blue metal queen bed, again with private bath. Adjacent is a third, twin-bedded guest room that’s often pressed into use, when it’s not serving as the hostess’s laboratory (she used to work as a scientist). You get the idea that Chiara will do more with the house, which has five bedrooms and five bathrooms. At our visit, she was hosting special events, “but I’m going to move slowly.” That’s the way to go, given the serene setting and the classical music that plays throughout the house. Chiara serves a lavish continental breakfast – from cereal to croissants, “everything but eggs.” She has been known to give complimentary facials to guests, and sometimes a friend presents piano concerts in the great room. “We do enjoy this house,” she says. “It’s like living inside a violin, with all this wood paneling. It’s such a joy to be here.” Three rooms with private baths. Doubles, $100 to $130. (540) 687-4137. Fax (540) 687-4044. E-mail: ThLongbarn@aol.com For more information: http://members.aol.com/thlongbarn Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places / Mid-Atlantic, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2003. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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