October 16, 2026
To: Brigid Barry, Greenwich CT
From: Stephen Brown, Comfort Island
Dear Brigid,
To start with, you know I am not an insane person. I sometimes make irrationally bad choices, but that doesn’t make me a nutcase.
When I bought Comfort Island, (which you thought was a crazy idea) it came with a lot of furniture. Most was unsalvageable, some was auctioned and some I kept and had restored. It’s gratifying to see old pieces brought back to life. Andrew Knapp, who restored many of the pieces, including the original dining room table and its twelve chairs, was a master, consumed by detail and exacting in his restoration.
One of the pieces he restored was an old horsehair Empire-style couch. It was a mess. We gave it a masculine, modern fabric and the result was stunning. I placed it in the living room and surrounded it with other Victorian period pieces.
Now, the problem with Victorian furniture is that it wasn’t built for comfort. It was aesthetic, built to carry heavily clothed people and keep them rigidly upright.
That was the problem with the restored couch placed in the living room. It was pretty, but not comfortable. Certainly not something on which you would want to take a nap.
AND worse, the living room looked like a doll house. Sure, I had a big Spanish chandelier and a very modern 60’s glass coffee table, but it didn’t alleviate the preciousness of the space.
So, I shopped for couches.
I needed neutral and summery and comfortable. But every swatch that spoke to me was cream or white.
Now Comfort is a busy place. We had over 500 people through here this year, between the tours and fundraisers and weekend guests. And I have Duke, who thinks that when we leave the house, he has the right to get on the furniture. Bad dog.
But thus far, two seasons in, the couches are as clean as ever, the room is used more than ever and a nap on one of them is never out of the question.
Just without your shoes on please.
So happy that you’re up here this weekend for Punkin Chunkin. Should be a blast.
Stephen