Q&A: A Couple From Hawaii Revive a Historic Home in Orwell

Married couple Amber Naramore and Adam Townley-Wren were living in Hawaii when they first encountered a website with historic house listings and saw images of their future home, Historic Brookside in Orwell. Also known as the Wilcox-Cutts House, it includes a 1789 farmhouse and a front-facing Greek Revival portion added in 1843. From nearby Route 22A, it’s hard to miss the majestic Greek temple façade with massive Ionic columns. The mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its former owners were breeders of merino sheep and Morgan horses.

The couple put an offer on the house without seeing it in person. When they arrived in June 2021, it was filled with junk. The pair moved into the mansion that October and have been slowly renovating it themselves. They rent out a suite of rooms via Airbnb and also give tours.

Amber is an opera singer and a teacher, and Adam is an airline pilot. Amber founded a cat rescue in Hawaii called the Good Cat Network, and Adam flies kittens from the island to Seattle. They’ve rescued 400 cats, and eight of them now reside in the Orwell abode. Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger paid the new Vermonters, feline and human alike, a visit on a sunny spring day and got a tour of their unique home.

SEVEN DAYS: How did you find this house?

EVA SOLLBERGER: I love driving on 22A to various video shoots down south. The landscape is bucolic with rolling farmland and a wide variety of old houses. But when I drive past Brookside, it always takes my breath away. You rarely see Greek temples in the midst of our state — although this house does have two replicas, one in Castleton and one at Shelburne Museum. The Vermont Statehouse is also a beautiful example of Greek Revival architecture, and it was built after Brookside. I always wanted to know more about this eye-catching home and eventually found Historic Brookside on Facebook. I wondered why two people from Hawaii would buy this property. The subject seemed ripe for a video.

SD: Do you like old homes?

ES: I love old homes and live in one that dates back to the 1890s. It was utilitarian mill housing, not in the league of this Greek Revival mansion. I am addicted to TV shows about old home renovations and have been working on updating my house, as well.

Over the years I have covered many interesting old structures in our state, like Wilson Castle in Proctor and the abandoned Milton Creamery. In 2021 I featured the selective dismantling of Founders Hall at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester. And I loved filming at Shirley Jackson’s former home in North Bennington and Edward Gorey’s former abode on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Both of those videos are evergreen, and fans of the artists continue to leave comments on them.

I love exploring these old spaces, seeing them stripped back to the lath and plaster, touching the hand-hewn beams, and reveling in the ancient artistry.

SD: Amber and Adam are a very interesting couple.

ES: Like their house, these two are very unusual and dynamic. They have cool occupations, and their cat rescue in Hawaii means a lot to me as a cat lover. I only got to meet three of their eight rescue cats, but that was a highlight. Bruiser stole my heart with his puffy belly and insolent stare.

Then Adam started playing the marimba, introduced me to his pet turtles and showed me the former Masonic temple in the attic — I was hooked. It is one of those stories that keeps on giving, and I had to leave a lot of juicy bits, including a creepy ghost story, on the cutting-room floor.

SD: Tell us about this video format.

ES: I shot this video with my iPhone in 4K resolution for the first time. I am wondering if viewers will see a difference in the quality from 2K. I used to carry my heavy Canon camera and monopod around on shoots like this, and it is so hard to lug all that gear from room to room. I love shooting house tours with my lightweight, auto-focusing phone and body mics. I am able to be nimble and enjoy my surroundings properly.

SD: Brookside’s history is amazing.

ES: There is an impressive agriculture legacy from the merino sheep and Morgan horses that were raised at Brookside. High rollers like J.P. Morgan stayed in the suite now being rented out for Airbnb guests or used as a guest room. But J.P. had to use the outhouse, as the home didn’t get plumbing and electricity until the 1940s. There were also a number of interesting former owners, like painter Kathleen B. Granger, who wrote a book called The Hills of Home: A Vermont Idyll, now out of print. Adam and Amber are hoping to include a painting by Granger in their forthcoming museum room, along with old photos and memorabilia from the home.

SD: What is it like living in this space?

ES: Despite the grandeur of the exterior, I got the impression that Adam and Amber are making a comfortable home for themselves. All those cuddly cats probably help. They had family visiting while I was there, and it was nice seeing the space lived in and enjoyed. Adam’s niece Willow showed me her fairy garden and took me on a flower and willow tree tour. The couple have a lot of plans for the 238 acres — adding a vineyard, a tasting room, a museum room, a sunken rose garden and an airstrip. Considering how many incarnations the house has already been through, I look forward to seeing what comes next for it with new, imaginative owners at the helm.

Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger has been making her award-winning video series, “Stuck in Vermont,” since 2007. New episodes appear on this website every other Thursday and air the following night on the WCAX evening news. Sign up here to receive an email alert each time a new one drops.

The original print version of this article was headlined “Mittens With Moxie | Jen Ellis documents her sudden internet fame in a new book”

The original print version of this article was headlined “This Old Greek Temple | A couple from Hawaii revive a historic home in Orwell”