Houzz Tour: A Gorgeous, Modern Timber Home with a Clever Layout
This small, barn-style holiday home is so cosy, it tempted the owner to move in full time
Becky Harris
14 January 2020
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
Sometimes, part-time life in the country is so great, it will make a person drop urban life and run for the hills. While this busy professional was moving between homes in New York City and Boston for her job, she tasked architect Joan Heaton and the builders at Silver Maple Construction with crafting a holiday home for her on a plot of land in Vermont with Adirondack mountain views. But soon after the home was completed, she fell in love with the easy Vermont lifestyle and decided to ditch the cities to live there full time.
House at a Glance
Who lives here? This is the full-time home of a woman who originally built it as a holiday home.
Location Weybridge, Vermont
Size 1,250 sq ft (116 sq m) plus a mezzanine bedroom; two bathrooms
Designers Joan Heaton (architecture) and Raycroft/Meyer Landscape Architecture (landscape design)
Photos by Jim Westphalen
“This client had a really specific idea of what she wanted,” Joan Heaton says. “She wanted a very simple and modern form. And she didn’t want to break up the roofline with dormers.”
Although the house is modern, Joan looked to vernacular farm buildings in the area for inspiration. The house is a simple, modern, barn-like structure with pleasing proportions.
Find a local architect on Houzz.
Who lives here? This is the full-time home of a woman who originally built it as a holiday home.
Location Weybridge, Vermont
Size 1,250 sq ft (116 sq m) plus a mezzanine bedroom; two bathrooms
Designers Joan Heaton (architecture) and Raycroft/Meyer Landscape Architecture (landscape design)
Photos by Jim Westphalen
“This client had a really specific idea of what she wanted,” Joan Heaton says. “She wanted a very simple and modern form. And she didn’t want to break up the roofline with dormers.”
Although the house is modern, Joan looked to vernacular farm buildings in the area for inspiration. The house is a simple, modern, barn-like structure with pleasing proportions.
Find a local architect on Houzz.
On the front of the home, a large custom-made door pivots open, while a tall sidelight lets light into the hallway. The cladding is rough-sawn stained western red cedar.
The house was built with energy-efficiency in mind. It has a tight envelope – it’s insulated with 10cm of rigid foam on the exterior, with rock wool in the wall cavity, and has air-to-air heat pumps, so it doesn’t require the use of any fossil fuels.
The house was built with energy-efficiency in mind. It has a tight envelope – it’s insulated with 10cm of rigid foam on the exterior, with rock wool in the wall cavity, and has air-to-air heat pumps, so it doesn’t require the use of any fossil fuels.
The hallway is tiled with slate-like porcelain for durability. The RSJ stringer on the open staircase up to the sleeping loft references the RSJs Joan used in the home’s structure. A live-edge timber bench adds a rustic touch.
From the hallway, the house opens up into one big living space. The views continue across the first floor through the 12ft (3.6m)-wide doors to the rolling fields and hedgerows beyond. These doors face south and let in loads of natural light.
“The structural system of the house is great – it’s composed of trusses made of [RSJs],” Joan says. They add modern industrial style to the agrarian-inspired building.
Joan continued the western red cedar of the exterior onto the ceiling and walls inside. The flooring is oak and its variations in tone give it the aged look of reclaimed wood.
“The structural system of the house is great – it’s composed of trusses made of [RSJs],” Joan says. They add modern industrial style to the agrarian-inspired building.
Joan continued the western red cedar of the exterior onto the ceiling and walls inside. The flooring is oak and its variations in tone give it the aged look of reclaimed wood.
The great room centres on a wood-burning fireplace by Stûv. The industrial-style surround is porcelain tiles with a metallic finish and the hearth is steel, with room below for wood storage. The rustic wood door conceals the TV. The Sputnik light fixture adds another industrial touch.
Large windows on the western side of the house provide expansive views of the Adirondacks.
“My client says she’s not much of a cook, so she wanted to keep the kitchen small, but she does throw the best parties ever here,” Joan says. A large island provides a good spot to gather and to serve food and beverages. All of the cabinetry is custom-made, including the island with its woven wood detailing.
Porcelain splashback tiles with a metallic finish (the same one used on the fireplace surround), stainless-steel appliances, concrete pendant lights and a grey-washed finish on the cabinetry mix rustic and industrial.
Range: Bertazzoni
“My client says she’s not much of a cook, so she wanted to keep the kitchen small, but she does throw the best parties ever here,” Joan says. A large island provides a good spot to gather and to serve food and beverages. All of the cabinetry is custom-made, including the island with its woven wood detailing.
Porcelain splashback tiles with a metallic finish (the same one used on the fireplace surround), stainless-steel appliances, concrete pendant lights and a grey-washed finish on the cabinetry mix rustic and industrial.
Range: Bertazzoni
One of the homeowner’s must-haves was a transparent wine cooler. Along with the doors, cabinetry and other woodwork, this was custom made by the builder, Silver Maple Construction.
“Another fun thing about the kitchen is the apartment-size appliances,” Joan says. Both the range and fridge are 60cm wide and the dishwasher is 45cm.
“Another fun thing about the kitchen is the apartment-size appliances,” Joan says. Both the range and fridge are 60cm wide and the dishwasher is 45cm.
Joan tucked the kitchen beneath the mezzanine bedroom. The lower ceiling makes it cosy and provides delineation from the main room.
The three large doors on the back of the house slide all the way open and pocket inside the walls, creating a 12ft (3.6m) opening between the main room and the deck. This makes it easy for parties to spill from indoors to out.
There’s a simple rectangular swimming pool off the western side of the house, and past that are the Adirondack mountains. On the opposite side of the house is an outdoor shower.
The retaining wall along the pool area nods to local agrarian landscapes. “The landscape architects suggested using this local boulder stone,” Joan says. “It was less expensive than something fancier and more fitting for a barn.”
On the deck, Loll Designs’ modern take on classic Adirondack chairs is a perfect fit for the modern home that overlooks their namesake.
Another must-have idea of the owner’s was a bunk bed alcove for when her best friend and her kids sleep over.
Each bunk has its own niche and reading light, and metal ladders and railings continue the industrial feel. A set of four sliding barn doors fully cover the bunks when not in use. They slide behind each other, so that when the bunks are exposed, only one door is visible on each side of the alcove.
The baby grand piano tucked in the corner gives an idea of the main room’s size. The proportions of the furniture, doors, fireplace surround and windows – and breaking up the wood panelling with painted plasterboard – create a pleasingly comfortable scale.
The baby grand piano tucked in the corner gives an idea of the main room’s size. The proportions of the furniture, doors, fireplace surround and windows – and breaking up the wood panelling with painted plasterboard – create a pleasingly comfortable scale.
A simple utility sink adds an industrial touch in the full bathroom on the main level. The wall to the right is tiled in porcelain planks that look like wood.
The shower is open to the rest of the bathroom to make the most of the space.
Perched above the great room, the mezzanine has a steel-and-glass railing that keeps the views to the downstairs and outdoors open.
There’s built-in storage on the far side of the bed. The doors are custom-built, designed in a large-scale chevron pattern.
This barn door leads to the mezzanine bathroom.
Because her client didn’t want to break up the simple form of the roofline with dormers, Joan used a skylight to bring natural light into the bathroom.
Tell us…
What do you like best about this modern country home? Let us know in the Comments section.
Tell us…
What do you like best about this modern country home? Let us know in the Comments section.
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Beautiful, but I wouldn't like an open bedroom on top of a kitchen (smells and gases) and a living room (noises and fumes).
great for a single person that just happens to be a grandmother that isn't much cooking, has with 6 grandson's that love sleepovers, and enjoys quiet solitude with her glass of wine when they go home!! only thing missing is a small separate cottage for the parents.
The owner lives alone I thought, so no one cooking or making noise below!