PROJECT NAME: The Wilburs Barn Residence

PROJECT TYPE: Single Family Detached

PROJECT CONTEXT:  The new home is sited across the street from the Owner’s current historic residence on a winding rural street in an agricultural area.  The existing colonial home, like many in the area, stands very close to the street and we needed to take great care in siting and styling the new home in order to enhance and reinforce the beauty of the historic context.

PROJECT LOCATION: North Guilford, CT

PROJECT COMPLETION:  Spring 2004.

PROJECT PROGRAM:  The clients desired a live / work space, designed efficiently around need and comfortable living.

CLIENT:  A couple running a small business from their home and expecting their first child.

DESIGN SOLUTION:  The Owners approached us to design a new building with a large free spanned work area on the first level to provide storage for the owners business.  At first, the clients wanted to create an apartment on the second level with a two bedroom efficient living space to make the project more economically feasible. As the design came together and the spaces took shape, the clients slowly decided to move into the new apartment themselves.  The light and views from the second floor living and the compact yet comfortable design convinced them to rent their existing colonial home and occupy the new space instead.  Once this decision was made, the clients invested themselves fully in carefully picking the finishes and details to be reminiscent of their historic former home, yet fresh, new and reinvented.  They also took care to make the home very efficient using radiant floor heating, closed cell spay insulation and a capacity to utilize geothermal systems in the future.  An elevator was installed to make daily access to the second floor living area more convenient.

MATERIALS:  It was important to the client to pick up on the surrounding agricultural details and materials as a means to blend the new home into the context of the adjacent historic homes.  We used clapboard siding with a wide exposure and wide trim to give a carriage house appearance.  The overhead garage doors are clad with a painted vertical tongue and groove siding.

PROJECT COST:  Withheld.