Light Work

The owner/artist of this West Tisbury, Mass., studio dyes paper and “wanted all types of light and a lot of it” for her work space, says architect Gerrit Frase, who with Mark Hutker redesigned the former animal barn. A band of clerestory windows gathers sunlight from dawn to dusk while a grid of collar ties where the old hay loft was provides an ideal support for lamps that wash the 600-square-foot space in artificial light. Shelving, sized specifically for the owner’s art, interweaves with exposed studs and exaggerated windowsills all around the building’s white walls. Reclaimed heart pine floors, subtly whitewashed in a harlequin pattern, add another note of freshness. The barn’s existing layout easily accommodated the owner’s need for a large work/gallery space and a small office. A step down from the gallery, which replaces the old stable, leads to the office on the site of the former chicken coop. Builder: Paul Munafo and Eric Shenholm, Paul Munafo Fine Woodworking, Vineyard Haven, Mass.; Architect: Hutker Architects, Vineyard Haven; Art tables: Sandy Alexander, Vineyard Haven; Photographer: Brian Vanden Brink.