ALTHOUGH HER HOUSE waS SMALL, Jane Benson Ackerman, an avid collector, wasn't willing to give up her favorite things: literally thousands of books and many years' worth of carefully curated second-hand finds. So when she set out to renovate the circa-1850 home near Norwich, VT, she had a mission: to make the house structurally sound (no more leaks or drafts) and to surround herself with her beloved objects, many of which were languishing in storage.
Ackerman, a fund-raiser, had bought the farmhouse in rather sad shape; it had been untouched since the sixties. She knew the home's renovation would be a pricey (and therefore long-term) proposition. So, as she planned and saved, she scoured salvage warehouses, auctions, and flea markets for objects that could work in her dream house, from…
