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Wilton, Conn.
Specht Harpman
Specht Harpman’s Modern Barn is a comfortable space that combines the old and the new
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Photo © Michael Moran |
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By Jane F. Kolleeny
Opportunity can be cloaked in misfortune, as was the case for an artist couple from Manhattan whose country home was partially destroyed by fire. With their primary residence in New York City, they had been spending weekends in Wilton, Connecticut, for 23 years, until an electrical fire in 2001 burned their barn-turned-rural getaway down to its gambrel frame.
Involving the rebuilding of a 4,500-square-foot dairy barn and the partial restoration of a silo, this project fits well in a town like Wilton, which takes pride in preserving its history. With its wooded hills, winding roads, old stone walls, and tranquil ponds, Wilton is a quaint New England town, about 55 miles north of Manhattan.
Specht Harpman, based in New York City and Austin, Texas, undertook the project on this former farm, which includes two barns and a silo clustered on an 8-acre site. The 1870 complex sits comfortably on a rolling grassy site dotted with crab apple and other flowering trees.
Engaging the landscape, creating a new entry, and reenvisioning the main barn guided the architects as they developed their design. The house also needed to accommodate two large elderly black Labrador retrievers, very much a part of the family.
The architects resited the house in the landscape, creating an outdoor arrival area on the long east side of the barn. An informal garden court leads the visitor inside to an entry porch, flanked by a potting shed and a breakfast room. On the other long side of the barn—the garden side—four French doors join the inside to the outdoors, effectively dissolving the wall and opening it to the landscape and silo.
The architects brought the public spaces down to the ground-floor level. They took their cues from the original gambrel barn, leaving the main volume open and adding concrete exterior buttresses secured by a series of cross ties to create a loftlike space. Now air and light flood the central barn space. The living/dining area, powder room, kitchen, breakfast room, husband’s study, and maid’s suite occupy the ground floor, while the upper level—suspended from the rafters like a wooden box—houses the master bedroom suite, the wife’s study, and a small library.
The architects balanced the large public space with intimate areas, including the studies, library, and master-bedroom suite.
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the People
Architect
Specht Harpman
338 West 39th Street, 10th Floor
New York, New York 10018
T 212.239.1150
1206 Lorrain Street, Suite A
Austin, Texas 78703
T 512.663.2658
www.spechtharpman.com
Project Designers:
Scott Specht and Louise Harpman
Project Manager:
Courtney (Allan) Rice
Project Team:
Scott Specht and Louise Harpman; Courtney (Allan) Rice; Amy Lopez-Cepero
Architect of record
Scott Specht, RA, AIA
Engineer(s)
Charles Brown
Gibble Norden Champion Brown Consulting Engineers, Inc.
Old Saybrook, CT
www.gncbengineers.com
General contractor
Dave Prutting
Prutting & Company Custom Builders
New Canaan, CT
www.prutting.com
Photographer(s)
Michael Moran www.moranstudio.com
CAD system, project management, or other software used
AutoCAD www.autodesk.com, Adobe Photoshop www.adobe.com |
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the Products
Structural system
Custom Concrete exterior buttresses
Custom Wood roof and truss system
Exterior cladding
Natural stucco
Roofing
Certainteed Fibreglass shingles www.certainteed.com
Windows
Bonneville Wood Windows www.bonnevillewindows.com
Doors
Bonneville Wood French Doors (exterior) www.bonnevillewindows.com; Morgan Wood Doors (interior)
Hardware
Locksets:
Baldwin www.baldwinhardware.com
Hinges:
Stanley www.stanleyhardware.com
Cabinet hardware:
Lamp, Sugatsune www.sugatsune.com
Interior finishes
Cabinetwork and custom woodwork:
Custom cabinetry by Specht Harpman throughout; prefinished maple plywood
Paints and stains:
Benjamin Moore Pristine series
Paneling:
Custom paneling by Specht Harpman throughout; prefinished maple plywood
Special surfacing:
Custom concrete floor, screened and polished; with integrated hydronic radiant floor heating system - Azzarone Contracting Corporation, Mineola, New York, Tel#: 516-742-4305
Floor and wall tile:
- Mexican river stone flooring; Novelda Crème honed limestone tub surround (Master bath) - Stone Source, New York, NY www.stonesource.com
- Nero Assoluto honed granite countertops (Kitchen)
- Nero Assoluto honed granite fireplace surround (Fireplace surround)
Lighting
Interior ambient lighting:
Zaneen www.zaneen.com
Downlights:
Lightolier www.lightolier.com
Task lighting:
Belfer Lighting (steplights) www.belfergroup.com
Exterior:
RAB www.rabweb.com
Controls:
Lutron www.lutron.com
Plumbing
Kitchen faucets:
Chicago Faucets (commercial grade) www.chicagofaucets.com
Toilets:
TOTO www.totousa.com
Bathtub:
Kohler www.kohler.com
Tub filler:
Kohler www.kohler.com |
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