SALISBURY — Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (D-5) admired the kitchen cabinets, the sunlight streaming through the large windows and an airy room well suited for flexible living space.
She toured the new affordable home at 17 Perry St. on Thursday, Jan. 29. The house, recently completed by the Salisbury Housing Trust, is awaiting a family to call it home. The modular home is one of four erected in Salisbury through the Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity’s Affordable Homeownership Program for scattered sites. Houses were also built in Norfolk, Cornwall and Washington.
Jocelyn Ayer, director of the center, joined members of the housing trust and First Selectman Curtis Rand in welcoming Hayes and explaining how the project came together. Rand said the property was the site of a dry-cleaning establishment located in the center of a residential area. “It was owned by two people who walked away from it. It took 15 years before we took the initiative to do something. We didn’t want to foreclose until we were sure we had someone to share in the cleanup.”
That partner was the state Department of Economic and Community Development, which provided a grant. Once the contamination was abated, a process that took five years, the town gave the property to the trust.
Hayes commended the town, saying, “I’m surprised you took the risk.”
Ayer said the critical pieces in making the project happen were the town donating the land and the Planning and Zoning Commission approving two homes on the Perry Street lot. She also thanked Hayes for her support in securing some federal funding toward the project.
“Other towns are jealous of the support we have here,” Ayer told Hayes, which includes help from the town, state and federal government.
Jennifer Kronholm Clark, vice president of the Salisbury Housing Trust, shows Congresswoman Jahana Hayes the kitchen in the trust’s newly built affordable house on Perry Street during Hayes’s visit Thursday.Ruth Epstein
Each of the houses costs $250,000. The trust retains the land on which they sit. The cost to build each house was $500,000, said Ayer. So far, two of the four Salisbury homes are occupied. Those eligible must be first-time homeowners.
Heat is provided by mini-split units in each room. The houses run on electricity and Ayer said the trust is exploring solar options. “We have $40,000 for each house, but we’re having a hard time getting bids near that.”
Jennifer Kronholm Clark, vice president of the trust, described the families who are already occupying the two houses. Just next door at 19 Perry St. is a young family with two children, one born recently. The mother grew up in Salisbury and “this is a wonderful opportunity for her to raise her children where she was raised. It’s a beautiful story.”
The family in one of the Undermountain Road houses has three boys who are thrilled to have a playground practically in their front yard, said John Harney, president of the trust. When the town conveyed that parcel, it stipulated that the existing playground remain.
Even with the $250,000 price tag, which is considered affordable in today’s housing market, Ayer said there has been a lot of interest expressed, but many just cannot afford to buy because they are unable to secure a mortgage. Hayes noted the guidelines have to be adjusted, adding that while affordable housing has always been an issue, “it’s getting to the top of the priority list.”
She lauded Ayer for all the work she does to promote affordable housing, telling her “You have a great vision. I’ll keep going to bat for you. I’ll keep trying to get federal money.”
As she was about to leave, Hayes was presented by Harney with what he called “liquid gold” — maple syrup made by Dolores and Champ Perotti of East Canaan. He also had a bottle for Ayer.
Those who may be interested in applying for the homeownership program should contact Ayer at 203-579-3180.
Marina Kotchoubey at the Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers showroom in West Cornwall.
Sometime in the mid-2010s, with grandkids accumulating, he started to picture a future away from the shop. It was getting time to step away and enjoy what he insists is one of the most beautiful parts of the world: the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. But just because he was aging out of the job didn’t mean his employees needed to as well.
Ingersoll recognized the home he’d built for these creative experts — a place where they, too, could make their livings building masterworks of fine furniture. So, for his next big challenge, he began the search for someone he could trust to take what he’d made and build it even better. After searching for quite some time, he decided to look next door.
Technically, Marina Kotchoubey grew up in Manhattan but she spent weekends and summers in Cornwall, Connecticut, feeling more at home amongst the woods and rivers of Litchfield County than in the subways of the city. But business opportunities kept her away from making her permanent home in the region.
After college, Kotchoubey moved to Paris to run the U.S. branch of children’s fashion brand Petit Bateau. At the young age of 23, it was a job she wasn’t ready for. But that’s where Kotchoubey finds her creative challenges.
By pairing the experience of her peers and coworkers with her razor-sharp intuition, Kotchoubey ran the brand with seamless expertise despite her lack of experience. She jumped into the deep end of the pool and challenged herself to swim. For seven years, she swam like an Olympian.
After her time in France, she felt ready to finally make a home in Cornwall. With no career or even job lined up, she approached several local businesses around the Northwest Corner and offered to help out in a consulting capacity. After years of challenging conditions in the deep end, this seemed like calm, shallow waters. And that’s when her neighbor, Ian Ingersoll, approached her.
At first, he was looking for a little help with business issues. Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers was doing well, but a younger customer base of homeowners and interior designers weren’t as keen on classic Shaker furniture. Though the studio had already started to diversify their offerings, Kotchoubey was instrumental in implementing a smooth transition to other styles of furniture. Ingersoll saw that, thanks to her breadth of experience and enterprising vision, she could take the baton and run with it.
In 2025, he handed her the keys.
Kotchoubey is not a master woodworker. In fact, she knows very little about the craft. But what she lacks in practical knowledge, she makes up for in the confidence she has in her craftsmen. Much like her time running a brand in France, she knows how to help support and get the most out of the experts who have the experience she lacks. It helps that all those experts love what they do.
When she took the reins, Kotchoubey saw two new ways forward. She could shake things up and pivot the shop toward installations and on-site custom builds. This would require new equipment, new clients and possibly new craftsmen. The other path leaned into what she had already helped the company do: expand its offerings and cater to a new, less traditionally minded clientele.
With confidence in her craftsmen and the reputation their work has garnered, she resisted the urge to pivot and instead relied on what makes Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers great — high-quality furniture made by expert craftsmen.
The journey isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. There are great challenges that come with being a young woman in an older man’s world. Firstly, she had to win the respect of her employees, despite not sharing in their skills and know-how. She accomplished that, once again, by listening to the experts and not forcing her vision on a remarkably capable group. The woodworking side of things might be new, but her ability to swim in unknown waters has proven unflappable throughout her career.
Now in its sixth decade of operations, Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers shows no sign of slowing down. Kotchoubey’s leadership is finding new customers by expanding on the reputation of the work. With increasing demand and a steadfast commitment to slow, quality jobs, don’t expect to pop into their West Cornwall showroom and leave with a piece anytime soon. Lead times on custom creations range from 12 to 16 weeks, but if things keep going the way they are, that wait could get even longer.
To see some of the company’s offerings, visit ianingersoll.com.
Marina Kotchoubey at the Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers.Photo by D.H. Callahan
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