Couple brings new sheen to Dutch Colonial home in Guilderland that was in Nott family for generations
GUILDERLAND, New York: He's a criminologist from India, she's a nephrologist from Serbia and now the couple has taken on one of their most challenging assignments: restoration of an 18th-century estate known as Norman Vale.
Built in 1786, the 24-room white clapboard and green-shuttered Dutch Colonial manor house sits on 12 wooded, hilly acres along Nott Road, bounded by the Hungerkill Creek.
The estate remained in the family of Union College President Eliphalet Nott for many generations, until a descendant sold it in 1977.
In October 2005, Dilip Das and his wife, Dr. Ana Mijovic-Das, bought the property for nearly $1 million and began extensive work to restore its historic luster after a succession of modernizations and years of neglect.
"This house is very peaceful. I love the spirit of the place," Mijovic-Das said on a recent afternoon.
She has brought an Old World sensibility to the place. Opera played on a stereo. Fine china and gilded wine goblets were laid out on a table. Split logs crackled in a fireplace in the living room, furnished with antique red velour couches and adorned with paintings the couple acquired on their frequent travels.
She is a kidney disease specialist at Albany Medical Center Hospital who fled Belgrade in the 1990s during the Balkan wars.
Her husband is a criminal justice scholar and author who has taught at several American universities and is a human rights consultant for the United Nations. A former police chief in the state of Assam in eastern India, Das is the founding director of the International Police Executive Symposium.
"I find the house quite fascinating because of its history," Das said. "It's a very romantic landscape, and I love roaming through the woods."
Their work thus far involved an overhaul of the kitchen, cleaning the original wide-plank pine floors, restoring bathrooms, re-finishing molding, painting walls, designing window treatments and more.
The first floor includes a library, formal parlor, dining room and tea room.
"We've had so much support and help from family and friends during the restoration," Mijovic-Das said. "Everyone likes seeing the progress we've made."
The couple looked at numerous properties before they settled on Norman Vale, despite its state of disrepair at the time.
"I was able to see the beauty behind the blemishes," she said. "My father, who was a professor of philosophy in Belgrade, taught me to appreciate beauty."
"We're working hard to bring back this historic house as a symbol of pride for our community," said Das, who has two grown children from a previous marriage. His wife died in a car accident when the children were young.
The next phase of their restoration will take aim at the second- and third-floor bedrooms as well as the landscaping.
"We've been living in dust for many months, but it's been worth it," Mijovic-Das said.
"Each time we come home from a trip, we fall in love with Norman Vale all over again," she said.
By Paul Grondahl, Staff Writer for the Albany Union-Times. He can be reached at by e-mail at pgrondahl@timesunion.com. This article has been reprinted with permission from Paul Grondahl. The article was originally printed in the Albany Union-Times in February 2007.
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