Imagine this kind of old house

From the NY Times:
Grand old house in N. H.

Separating Curds and Whey, City Life and Country Farm

On the third floor is a children’s haven, complete with a kitchen and a giant rumpus room with a river view. Downstairs, French period pieces from Ms. Cabot’s maternal grandmother mingle graciously and eclectically with early American antiques in the front parlors. A clutter of iPods and computers sits beside photos of Cabots cavorting through the centuries.

Ms. Cabot stenciled the Latin phrase “Quod cupio mecum est” on the wall behind a velvet sofa in the living room. “ ‘What I want, I already have,’ that’s the translation,” she said. “I read it somewhere, and I thought it a good maxim and nice reminder.” (On a kitchen wall, opposite a portrait of a bison that is original to the house, she has stenciled “Rejoice.” Mr. Lovell-Smith said he had retired his wife’s stencils before she got too carried away.