Shopping Ayr Barns

November 29, 2020

The Cotswolds meet Connecticut in designer Becca Casey’s retail and lifestyle site Ayr Barns.

Text by Marni Elyse Katz    Photography by Chloe Crane-Leroux

Becca Casey’s friends teased her when she and her husband up and moved out of Brooklyn before a baby was even on the radar. “We just didn’t feel like city folk,” says the designer, who is now mom to a one-and-a-half-year-old son and two dogs. That said, she did a good impression. Before landing in Wilton by way of Greenwich, Casey was a loft dweller who worked for New York City’s Jenny Wolf Interiors, a follow-up act to her entry position at Robert Passal Interior Design. After college, Casey says she looked for work in New York and L.A., but the deal was sealed when Robert Passal responded to her resume “in a New York minute.”

Now, the designer, who established her Norwalk-based firm, Becca Interiors, in 2016, is channeling her childhood with a new venture. In July, she launched Ayr Barns, a retail-and-lifestyle site that reflects her upbringing in the English countryside. “I enjoy the essence of modern silhouettes and celebrate rustica and patina,” she says. She points to the shop’s private label Farmhouse stoneware plates as the embodiment of her aesthetic. “They have clean lines, but the glaze has a rusticism,” she says.

Ayr Barns sells wares from artisans Casey has loved for years, such as pieces from West Sussex-based Rebecca Williams Ceramics and Vermont-based Farmhouse Pottery. “I’ve always taken pictures of ceramics on my travels,” she says. Iron goods by Australian designer Sibella Court are another longtime favorite. A forged-iron bottle opener with rattan-wrapped handle is a top seller along with antiqued-brass wall hooks. Italian-linen bread sacks and striped-linen-ticking food covers are also popular. During the cooler months, look for boot racks and Wellies. “We draw inspiration from our British roots; you don’t see enough of that style here,” she reasons. There’s also a section for farmers’ market enthusiasts. Casey, an avid vegetarian cook, visits a local market weekly. “We love the whole festival of it,” she says.

As for the future, the designer says a brick and mortar isn’t out of the question and alludes to having a secret project up her flowy, block-printed sleeve. In the meantime, she will continue showcasing her effortless
curations to which there’s been a great response. “We love seeing people nurture their home habitats during this difficult time,” she says.

Ayr Barns, ayrbarns.com

 

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