Home
Residential Projects
New York City
Los Angeles
Traditional
Historic Preservation
Interior Design
Furniture
Design Elements
Publications & Awards
Biographies
House Plans

Farmhouse Renovation

This turn-of -the-century foursquare farm house was part of 75 acres of creek-front property on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  The house was  moved about a hundred yards from its original location to give it a woodland setting and a view of the water.

The near-gut renovation involved digging a new basement, replacing all of the windows, and completely revamping the wiring and plumbing.

The design concept for the renovation evokes centuries of growth and change.  Different time periods come together in one place, not unlike the typical evolution of old Maryland houses.  Ambiguity makes a place rich and full of meaning.

The new front porch is an adaptation of a Greek Doric temple, recalling not only 18th -century plantation houses but any number of later residential styles.

The rear of the house, once divided into a separate living and dining room, was opened up into a great room.  Chunks of the exterior wall have been cut out and replaced with fixed sheets of glass, their edges seamlessly buried into the baseboard and cornice.  This "erosion of the wall" brings the outdoors closer, and evokes the romance of abandoned, ruined buildings.

 

Text adapted from "Moving to a Field of Dreams" by Mitchell Owens, Metropolitan Home (Sep/Oct 1996).