A conversation with
Clare de Boer
For the past two months, we've had the pleasure of hosting Roseland's first ever showroom in Picture Room. Roseland was founded by Clare de Boer and her husband Luke Sherwin, whose culinary & design projects we found to have deep aesthetic (and ethical) affinities with Salter House, and likewise draw on historic & personal histories in England & America. In addition to being a mother to four boys, Clare de Boer is also cofounder of restaurants King and Jupiter in NYC, creator of Stissing House, and writes a substack. Here, we talk with Clare about being a homebody, maintaining / restoring natural materials, and some of our shared interests in domestic & historic culture.
Will you tell us about where you’re from, originally, and the house you grew up in?
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"I’m half British, half Dutch, and moved around quite a bit. The first house I remember was in New Delhi, India. We had a treehouse at the end of the garden where I could watch the street action from up high. Cows and tiffin-wallas!"
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You and Luke are working on a big home renovation upstate as well. Can you tell us a little about it? Are there any details or elements you’ve become obsessed with?
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"We’re a little fixated on how the surfaces of the house breathe. The wood panelling, insulation, the paint, the plaster—we want it all to feel porous and open. It’s better for us and for the house. We’re leaving wood surfaces raw, oiling and waxing rather than using poly / sealants. This approach will take more upkeep, but age naturally and never feel new."
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Has your personal taste evolved in any big, surprising ways since working on your restaurants?
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"Restaurants have reinforced my hunch that beauty is developed through use. So have kids. One hundred and sixty restaurant guests and four boys take similar tolls on a space. Threadbare sofa cushions, dented chair rails, water rings. Signs of life and I love them!"
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We love what you’ve created at Stissing House; and share an affinity for the domestic framing for our shop/gallery/cafe. How do you think a domestic feeling functions in a restaurant? How does architecture / interior influence the food experience there?
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"I want Stissing House to open up the pleasures of home—or the fantasy of home—for anyone who visits the Hudson Valley. Creaky floors, fireplaces, soft places to sit are equally important as the plate of roast chicken and slice of cake. They serve the same purpose. I’m a homebody—nothing can beat home—but we can imitate it."
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In talking with you and Luke about Roseland, it’s clear you share our interest in building something new that is anchored in history. How do you think about the relationship between preservation on one hand, and novelty/creativity/growth on the other?
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"At Roseland, we’re dedicated to American classics—in practice, that means paying homage to designs that have been reinterpreted hundreds of times. Our general rule is to find the essence of the original and update it as sparingly as possible for production or utility. Most of the time, we’d prefer you barely see our design ego. It’s a rule there to break—but not in the short run!"
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We’re both “Mom & Pop” businesses! How are you finding it, building a business with your spouse?
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Clare wears Black Cotton Smocked Blouse and Wendy Skirt.
What role does the newsletter play for you? To some degree, has substack replaced cookbooks?
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"I started The Best Bit when I was lonely and pent-up after having my third son. I needed somewhere to natter about food and someone to listen—without leaving home. It’s grown in a way I couldn’t have anticipated and encouraged me to keep going, but the fundamental goal of connecting through recipes remains unchanged.
I don’t think Substack has replaced cookbooks—if you have a relationship with your readers it helps sell them."
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What is your favorite house museum or historic home?
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"Colonial Williamsburg is our Disneyland. It’s expansive and immersive in every sense: from its preservation of early trades and homes to its replication of historic detail and gardens. It can feel like too much beauty and history to take in. If you walk the town during golden hour and squint, it could be 1810."
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Clare wears the Wendy Nightdress.
Have you repaired or restored anything recently? (We like maintenance and mending.) If so, tell us about it!
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"We’ve been carefully stripping paint from reclaimed fireplace mantels."
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Any standout films / books recently?
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"North Woods. Next project is an orchard!"
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