Morning blend

Good Morning America co-anchor Lara Spencer and her husband, David Haffenreffer (a former CNN anchor now in real estate), recall finding their unusual home. It was 2005, and they were searching in Connecticut. We happened upon this little part of Greenwich called Riverside, Spencer says, and we knew this was the place to raise a family.

The house, a basic 1920s New England farmhouse, had been reconfigured and added onto over the years until it became, Haffenreffer says, endearingly quirky.

Porches were converted into oddly shaped rooms. More porches were added and then more rooms, too. We loved the neighborhood, and we loved the feel of the house, Spencer says. From the minute we stepped inside, we knew it was right.

Elizabeth Lippman

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Lara Spencer, husband David Haffenreffer, daughter Kate and son Duff enjoy hanging out on the front porch of their 4,200-square-foot Connecticut home.

In its 4,200 square feet are four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a dining room, a 20-by-40-foot kitchen, a playroom for the kids (son Duff, 10, and daughter Kate, 8), Spencers reading room (once another bedroom), Haffenreffers office (formerly a maids room) and a sun porch.

The kitchen is so large that, in addition to a marble cooking island and a table and chairs, theres a seating area with a couch, a steamer trunk for a coffee table, a working fireplace and a TV. Its so nice to be able to cook while the kids are sitting there watching TV or doing their homework, Spencer says. The kitchen is the hub of our house.

As for the homes decor, Spencer who does all her own decorating approaches it like an adventure. She believes in the three Rs: rescue, recycle and reinvent. She hits up flea market, auctions, yard sales and sometimes even dumpsters, mixing her finds with new designer pieces. To me, she says, its not about whether you can afford to shop at antique stores or order up entire rooms from a catalog. Its so much more fun to do it this way. If I wasnt doing what I do for my day job, Id certainly be trying to figure out a way to do this full-time.

Sometimes, what Spencer does comes close to treasure-hunting. There are two numbered Picasso lithographs from the 1960s that she discovered at a Salvation Army store. They were $35 for the pair, and theyre worth about $3,500, she says. Id thought they were posters, but when I took them in for framing, the framer recognized the paper and verified that they were the real thing.

I think that helped me get the job when I was hosting Antiques Roadshow in 2004. I told them that story, and they could see I was serious about finding antiques.

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Morning blend