May 4, 2026
Lee Link wants her land to stay grounded. Sense of place is everything to her. So yes, 46 years ago, Lee Link and husband Fritz bought the very modest A-frame on the strength of its breathtaking views. But Lee is always keenly aware that the house and land are located in rural Sharon. “I don’t want it to get too uptown,” is how she puts her efforts to put swank at bay. However, the woman has infinite style. And her savvy is readily apparent wherever you turn. Plus, as an added perk, Lee continually reassesses the picture, keeping it current, making improvements, revamping if necessary. Considering that the Links have stewarded their acreage for nearly half a century, every element is relevant to the family’s living style now. It’s all carefully thought out and tweaked. Every square foot feels relaxed and right. When you visit Lee Link, you just feel at home.
Not long after the Links came to Sharon, the A-frame sprouted wings. The first addition officially celebrated the view, and the vibe. Not everyone immediately thinks of adding a summer, open-air sleeping porch to their floor plan, but an addition with a modest daybed was an early move. It’s the sort of unassuming room where you just want to take an afternoon snooze or maybe read accompanied by that incredible view. No black flies invited in. And during winter, the room is closed down. Three years later, a conservatory and indoor dining room were added to expand on the snug kitchen and living room where the family formerly entertained. “The table easily seats eight with a working fireplace at the end,” Lee describes the room’s perks. With yawning windows, thanks to Michael Trapp, the room is home to Lee’s collections of succulents and geraniums. The conservatory is where you enter after slipping through a clipped arborvitae hedge that has matured to create a magnificent castle-like courtyard. No matter what time of year you visit, your arrival is a botanical event. Ditto for the addition of an expanded screened porch with sofa and dining table added on the other side of the A-frame to balance the conservatory wing. “I’m all about symmetry,” Lee admits.
The gardens are equally creative and they kicked in almost immediately after Lee, Fritz, and their son moved in. It started with a woodland garden that owes its hosta bounty to a nursery with a surplus, nearly giving their superabundance away for only $1 apiece. Ferns were added, plus it has “a few nice woodland things,” as Lee modestly puts it. Gardens were also installed around the house, but each has transformed with the family’s evolution. “The hardest part of gardening is editing,” Lee declares, but that’s where she excels. A former perennial garden ultimately felt fussy and its maintenance was continually distracting Lee from her porch relaxation time. Instead, she removed the fussy features and moved in some multi-stemmed kousa dogwoods that formerly lined the entry drive, smartly framing the trees with cobbling. Similarly, when the vegetable and cutting garden began to feel like a burden rather than a beautiful interlude, it was simplified. Meanwhile, a vine-wrapped pergola screens in the outdoor shower while a former hot tub, made redundant when a pool and pool house were installed, now hosts aquatic plants. It’s all very blissful. And impeccably stylish. Constant reassessment being the not-so-secret formula.
Of course, Lee is invariably modest and credits her friends as constant resources, especially Bunny Williams (“Everything stems from Bunny”) and Michael Trapp. When Lee needs something wonderful to cap off an idea or turn it up a notch, Trapp finds the goods. And evolutions are continually in the wings. For example, there’s the greenhouse. The time came when the conservatory couldn’t contain Lee’s plant collection or lust to be surrounded by nature in the winter. That’s when the greenhouse sprouted behind the garage. Designed and crafted by Stan Dzenutis, “the greenhouse is a masterpiece,” Lee describes its presence. And the jewelbox-like ecosystem isn’t lost on Lee, who spends two to three hours in it daily when weather doesn’t allow her to putter around outside. “The greenhouse is my happy place if I’m feeling a little overwhelmed,” she says. “The fragrance hits you immediately when you walk in. It’s sort of madness, but you can’t help thinking, ‘this is good.’” In summer, plants and souvenirs from travels overflow onto the surrounding terrace.
It’s all good. Despite her efforts to keep the family’s 26 acres from being uptown, it is undeniably a jewel in Sharon’s crown.
