Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1325707
58 While the four-bedroom main house is where the family sleeps, and the barn serves as a garage, it is the structure in between the two where most of the day-to- day family activity takes place. Anchored by a massive stone fireplace beneath a 16-foot scissor-trussed ceiling, the open-concept connector houses the kitchen, living and dining areas as well as a heavily trafficked mud- room. "I wanted a big open space that could be utilized well," says the homeowner. "It's a good way for people to congregate." Put differently, it accommodates a contem- porary lifestyle in an unfussy way. "One of the family's requirements for the interior finishes was that nothing feels too dainty," shares SV Design senior project manager Katy Finkenzeller. "Because it's a vacation home, the focus was on the com- munal spaces. The rustic nature of the barn was brought into the connector part of the house. "Using salvaged wood as a finish material wherever it made sense became a go-to answer for the owners," continues Finkenzeller. In the kitchen, the ceiling, the floor and an island are all made of old reclaimed boards that offer a variety of contrasting textures to the rugged aesthetic. Soapstone countertops have a complementary unpolished look, plus this green-building material is non- porous (no worries about staining), very durable and has high heat resistance. "The whole kitchen was really about keeping it simple, usable," notes Finkenzeller. "It's not meant to be a party kitchen." Thus, there was no reason to hide appliances with panels nor install a massive island for people to sit around. Instead, there's a long and nar- row table that encourages conviviality where the family settles for meals and to catch up with one another. On the exterior, too, the board-and-batten connec- tor with a metal roof is stylistically different from the main house and the barn. This was intentional, says Shulman, "in order to make it look like each piece of the home was built at a different time, not all at once." The windows change from white six-over-six in the main house to bronze six-over-one in the connector, where a slightly different treatment of the window trim situates it literally and stylistically between the very traditional main house and the very rustic barn. "Historically, this would have been an indication that the connector piece was built later, when larger pieces of glass became avail- able," notes Finkenzeller. As great as his passion is for the house, the home- owner shares another perspective: "Take the house out of the equation, and it's Vermont—the peace and quiet and tranquility—that I love." SV Design took this emotion and matched it with architectural integrity, delivering a home that's respectful of the environment, suited to a lifestyle and sure to acquire a patina of fond memories in years to come. svdesign.com; wildapplehomes.com A sliding barn door to the more formal portion of the house is fashioned from a variety of old boards with different textures.