Lam Nguyen, Lam Photography, www.lamphotography.com
The house's design blends together elements from various New Eng…
What began as a plan for modest additions to an existing home in Southport, Conn., soon transformed into a complete tear-down as the clients realized what they truly wanted was a house designed after their favorite building type: the barn. Designer Brian St. Pierre, owner and principal of eight-year-old firm Insite Architects in Huntington, Conn., created a fresh design for a home that suggest an evolution over time from a humble agricultural building—with plenty of upgrades.
“The idea was to blend the clean lines of a charming New England barn with the modern materials and amenities of today’s living,” St. Pierre says. “I wanted it to look like we took a 100-year-old existing barn and turned it into a new home.”
The resulting 3,500-plus-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bath Barn House is open and airy, but also warm and comfortable. Incorporating elements from a diverse range of barn typologies—such as a skylight cupola, stone-clad silo, standing-seam metal roof, and carriage-house garage—the house packs far more style into each square foot than the average home for livestock and farm implements. Among its distinguishing interior features are a high-end kitchen and separate butler’s pantry, elegant and spacious bathrooms, a grand entertaining area, wide-plank walnut floors, wrought-iron hardware, custom sliding barn doors throughout, a wrought-iron-and-glass double entry door, wall and ceiling planking, stone fireplaces, built-in televisions concealed behind hayloft doors, copious windows, a two-story foyer, and meticulously executed casework and moldings.
The Barn House’s passive solar orientation combined with its highly energy-efficient envelope and geothermal heat system will likely earn LEED for Homes Gold certification, assisted by its energy-efficient appliances, in-floor radiant heat, and reclaimed wood elements, according to St. Pierre. Like most homeowners in Connecticut, his clients weren’t interested in being green overachievers. Their priorities were aesthetic, and while energy efficiency was important, they didn’t give much thought to renewable energy at first. When they learned about the available rebates and tax credits, however, St. Pierre’s clients decided using geothermal heating and cooling was a no-brainer. “They wanted to do things that made sense and that would impact their everyday life,” says St. Pierre. “They’re not fanatics about green.”
The Barn House’s builder, Darren Andreoli, co-founder of Bluewater Home Builders in Westport, agrees that it’s more important for homeowners interested in greener living to be able to customize their approach, picking and choosing the sustainable options that fit their priorities.
The owners also wanted a home they can live in easily for the rest of their lives, and the barn vernacular naturally lends itself to accessible design. Open living spaces, a ground-floor master bedroom and bathroom, wide hallways and doorways, and the sliding barn doors all will help extend the owners’ ability to remain in their home as they age. A wide, paved ramp leads straight to the home’s entrance, at once mimicking the livestock ramps common to barns and providing a step-free, accessible threshold.
Overall, the effect is one of sleek tradition, warmth, comfort, and plentiful space in a footprint that’s less than 4,000 square feet.
Project Credits:
Builder: Bluewater Home Builders, Westport, Conn.
Architect: Insite Architects, Huntington, Conn.
Interior Designer: Patience Tinkey, It Takes Patience Interior Design, Clarence, N.Y.
Living Space: about 3,500 square feet
Construction Cost: about $500/square foot
Windows: Marvin Windows and Doors
Entry Door: Hope’s Door Co.
Kitchen Appliances: La Cornue, Sub-Zero, Bosch
Photographer: Lam Nguyen, Lam Photography, www.lamphotography.com.
