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Clyde Park, Montana
Fernau & Hartman Architects
Fernau & Hartman recycled the old, added some new, and moved things around to connect the Avis Ranch to its rugged Montana setting
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Photo © Timothy Hursley |
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By Clifford A. Pearson
On a ranch with 17,000 acres of spectacular Montana scenery, why would you build your country house on the lowest part of the land, close to the road? Why split it up into a series of small buildings, rather than gather family and guests under one roof? Because you’re thinking like a farmer, not an interloper, explains Richard Fernau, FAIA, whose firm, Fernau & Hartman Architects, designed a retreat in southern Montana for Anne and Greg Avis and their family.
Over the course of nearly 10 years, Fernau and his partner Laura Hartman, AIA, have helped the Avises build a ranch piece-by-piece, so that each little structure fits with the land as well as its neighbors. Recycling old buildings, salvaging old materials, and adding new structures, Fernau and his firm designed a complex that seems as casual and rugged as a group of cowboys at the end of a long day on the trail. But, in fact, the project embodies a painstaking approach to design that included consideration of environmental, social, and aesthetic issues. In the process, the architects and their clients changed a lot more about the buildings than is initially apparent, and—equally important—changed themselves as well.
Fernau advised “saving the old buildings, by slapping new roofs on them, then figuring out what to do with them later.” He didn’t, however, see the project as an exercise in historic preservation. As he worked on the buildings one at a time, he added new features to some of them: dormers, porches, windows, and doors. He tore down the stucco house and built a new carport/toolshed. He picked up the farmhouse from its rotting wood foundation, poured a new concrete slab, and replaced damaged wood siding with new boards of Douglas fir (same as before). Inside, he created a modern house with a new kitchen open to the living and dining area and a palette of colors (including russet, moss, and ocher) inspired by lichen that grow in the area. He restored the granary’s distinctive wood-plank envelope, but moved the building closer to the farmhouse and rotated it 180 degrees because its west facade had been battered by winds for nearly 100 years. He also added windows to the wheel room at the top of the granary to bring more daylight inside. Where grain had once collected, he created an indoor basketball court (great on cold winter days) and inserted a second floor with a bedroom and bath.
Want the full story? Read the entire article in our Jluy 2006 issue.
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the People
Owner
Anne & Greg Avis
Architect
Fernau & Hartman Architects, Inc.
2512 Ninth Street No. 2
Berkeley, CA 94710
Tel: 510.848.4480
Fax: 510.848.4532
www.fernauhartman.com
Design Principals:
Richard Fernau and Laura Hartman with
Design Team:
Jenee Anzelone, Sean Gilmore, Randy Hellstern, Leyla Hilmi, Peter Liang, Tom Powers + Aaron Thornton
Engineer(s)
Ed Matos and Brad Ebel
Bridger Engineering
611 N. Wallace Avenue
Bozeman, MT 59715
Consultant(s)
Landscape:
Sandy Blake
Blake Nursery
316 Otter Creek Rd.
Big Timber, MT 59011
www.blakenursery.com
Lighting:
Alice Prussin
Alice Prussin Lighting Design
1412 Cypress Street
Berkeley, CA 94703
www.aplight.net
General contractor
Bud Anzick
Anzick Construction
55 Willow Creek Rd.
P.O. Box 305
Livingston, MT 59047
406-222-2646
Photographer(s)
Timothy Hursley
1911 West Markham
Little Rock, Arkansas 72205
Tel: (501) 372-0640
Email: Tharkoff@aol.com
Judy K. Lawrence
JK Lawrence Photography
14350 Horse Creek Road
Bozeman, MT 59715
Tel: (406) 686-4188
Email: jklawrence@mcn.net
www.jklawrencephoto.com |
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the Products
Structural system
Wood frame, Timber frame, log.
Exterior cladding
Metal/glass curtainwall:
Copper (patinated)
Wood:
New + recycled pine. (stained)
Roofing
Metal:
Copper, corten.
Tile/shingles:
Cedar.
Doors
Bi-Fold doors:
Richards-Wilcox, (Barn Doors)
Hardware
Hinges:
Richards-Wilcox, (Barn Doors) www.richards-wilcox.com
Closers:
Richards-Wilcox, (Barn Doors) www.richards-wilcox.com
Interior finishes
Paneling:
recycled pine in the granary.
Floor and wall tile:
recycled pine granary at headquarters.
Stair:
Retractable stair at the granary, custom steel.
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