November 19, 2025
From City Streets to Country Hearths
By Brandee Coleman Gilmore
Photographs by Ashley Nicole Photography
“When I think of Christmas, I think of tradition, of the kind of warmth that’s passed down through generations. It’s the smell of butter and pine, the glow of candlelight on brass, the comfort of rituals repeated year after year.”
If Jenny Cipoletti’s gift is to paint a “romantic life well-lived” with words, it’s her husband Freddie’s gift to cook it up (literally), or to conjure it in images—with Jenny comfortably poised as muse.
“From the very beginning, our partnership has been rooted in shared creativity and mutual respect for each other’s talents,” says Jenny.
If you don’t know the Cipolettis, that could be because they’re relatively new in these parts. They bought their Litchfield home, Sunnymead, in July 2024. But the Cipolettis aren’t new on the scene; they’re household names to the couple’s combined half-million Instagram followers. The pair built a brand on their dolce vita-inspired lifestyle, and as their following has grown for a decade-plus, so has their purview. In the past five years, they’ve launched Jenny Cipoletti Jewelry; Italian provisions company Cucina Cipoletti (find their pastas on shelves at Petraroia Deli, Warren General, 100 Main, and Milton Market); and brought two daughters, Lucy and Mia, into the world.
“Our work is an extension of our life, the places we’ve traveled, the meals we’ve shared, the family we’ve built.”
Freddie was born and raised in New York City, Jenny in Palo Alto, Calif. They’ve lived in an art deco apartment in Los Angeles and a brownstone in New York, but a pandemic-era trip to Washington’s Mayflower Inn got them thinking about greener pastures.
“There was something about that golden pocket of Connecticut, the beauty of the landscape, the quiet rhythm of life, that planted a seed in our hearts,” Jenny says. Fast-forward five years, and their combined creative powers have given them an 1840 Colonial Revival to call home. Sunnymead was the only house they looked at. “The moment we walked through the doors, we could see our life unfolding here. It felt warm, lived-in, and full of stories waiting to be continued,” Jenny recalls. And perhaps no family tale is as exciting to write as the holidays in a new home.
“The architecture itself seems made for it: the wide hallways, the big windows that let in winter light, the scent of pancakes on a slow morning. It’s in those moments, surrounded by family and the quiet beauty of the season, that I’m reminded how deeply place and memory are intertwined, and how I am creating those same core memories for our girls,” she says.
The Cipolettis are working with Litchfield-based architect/interior designer Julia Metcalf, and Litchfield millworker/designer Jessica Fabri to renovate the home’s kitchen and master suite—while a captivated fan base follows Jenny sifting through fabric swatches, and tackling the DIY to-do list. Behind the scenes, life as usual is anything but for the former city dwellers.
“Living just five minutes walk from downtown Litchfield gives us the best of both worlds, the quiet charm of a historic neighborhood with the ease of modern convenience… I can’t wait to fill these rooms and our new kitchen with the people I love most, to have my family gathered under one roof, laughter echoing through the halls, and traditions both old and new woven together. It’s in those moments that Christmas becomes more than a season. It becomes a living memory, growing richer and more meaningful with each passing year.
