Barnyard reform

We believe that the path to a sustainable future lies in making buildings that profoundly connect us to the rhythms of nature and culture, the passing of each day, and the broad course of history. As a result we want to create architecture that honours substance over style, experience over formal gymnastics, order over chaos, and harmony over dissonance" - William Leddy.

Architect William Leddy had a chance to practise this ethos when his former clients Martin and Lisa approached him once again, this time for a home in the country. Fans of contemporary architecture, the couple had employed Leddy's services for their first home in San Francisco. "They knew that they wanted to convert the old cabinet shop they had purchased into an ‘interesting' new home to live in, but their knowledge of contemporary architecture was somewhat limited then," says Leddy. This soon changed after considerable time spent in San Francisco's creative and vibrant environment. The couple grew to realise the power of architecture in enhancing quality of life, and began collecting books on the subject, developing a design understanding in this way. "By the time they were ready to start work on their new home, they had become full collaborators in the design process," says Leddy.

The couple had to relocate from San Francisco for Martin's new job in the bio-tech field which took them to Wilmington, Delaware. They had a vision of a dream home and, with Leddy's help, they realised this vision in nearby Kennett Square, a small rural town near the southern border of Pennsylvania. However, this was no ordinary dream home...

"In searching for a new home, they quickly discovered that most available properties were typically in traditional Colonial style and they couldn't find anything that suited their taste for contemporary architecture," Leddy recalls. "Eventually, they found a farm that had a large farmhouse and a beautiful stone barn built in 1820. While the house was very nice, they immediately fell in love with the old barn, envisioning a modern conversion of it. And so they decided to renovate it as their contemporary new home."

Situated in the hills of Chester County and away from the city, this barn is surrounded by meadows and the occasional cluster of trees, and it projects itself as a perfect cross between rural farmhouse and mountain holiday home. Narrow country lanes take you though rolling fields of grass, and the overall picture is akin to what could be a literal rendition of the song Country Roads.

Rockeries and stone paving mark the lush green as you walk to the entrance, the sheer size of which is surprisingly majestic in correlation to the barn's humble façade. "The original structure was captivating because of the Euclidean simplicity of its form and the solidity and beauty of its massive stone walls. In creating the new home, we worked very hard to retain and enhance this fundamental character," says Leddy.

Large doors open onto a low vestibule that instantly creates an intimate passage into a surprisingly spacious entry hall. Open spaces, huge windows, clean lines and plenty of daylight streaming in from the skylights give a feeling of vastness and allow nature to flood the area with expansive rural landscape views. As you look down, the ground floor below is visible through original floor timbers, which remain suspended as a design feature. "The massive steel-faced fireplace and deeply inset windows give a timeless, vaguely medieval quality to these spaces," says Leddy.

The decor was a creative collaboration between the owners and the architect. Some of the furniture has been bought, while other pieces such as the coffee table and the chairs in the living room were custom-designed by the architect. The decor also showcases the couple's sizeable collection of antiques and art. Both Lisa and Martin are avid collectors. "Lisa is also an accomplished painter," says Leddy, "so the spaces were designed, in part, to provide ample display areas for their collection as well as several of Lisa's own paintings."

Wood, steel and concrete inside form a sleek contrast to the pre-existing stone and older outer walls of the original barn. However, maintaining the essence of the barn, keeping the age of the structure in mind, was not going to be easy. This is where the architect's genius comes to the fore. Leddy adopted a structure within a structure concept, taking inspiration from a simple 1951 sculpture by Robert Rauchenberg - a rough-hewn wood box made from found lumber that enclosed a white silk cube. In this case, the original barn walls form a rough, stone shell encasing a new, wooden ‘box'. "We sought to create the same tension between old and new, rough and smooth, past and present," says Leddy. "But we also needed to address the many technical challenges of building a modern home within an old stone structure that had sloping floors and crooked walls, and lacked thermal insulation or proper foundations. By building the new walls within the old, we achieved multiple practical benefits," says Leddy. "We could build new foundations without endangering the original walls; we could insulate the new spaces while still revealing the old stone surfaces; we could provide modern electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems without compromising the character of the original structure."

Eventually, the original shell was maintained and the stone walls cleaned and restored. New practical elements that were arranged around the stone walls - the chimney, kitchen and entry vestibule - were clad in zinc-coated copper to stand out as modern additions that complement rather than blend in. The new inner wooden box was clad with smooth cherry plywood, and the space between the two ‘boxes' was cleverly utilised for stairs, fireplaces, window seats and bathtubs.

And despite maintaining a rough-looking barn appeal, these challenges were tackled with master finesse. The balance of sturdy and delicate and coarse and refined plays throughout the interiors, the overall effect commendable and decidedly wow-eliciting.

"We sought to respect the dignified character of the original structure with an architecture that was equally dignified," says Leddy. While clearly modern in nature, the design is purposely without ‘style', taking the same direct approach to the craft of building as the original barn. Clear finished zinc and steel, locally sourced maple and cherry wood, ground concrete and native stone have been used, and existing materials were retained and preserved. New openings have been kept to a minimum and existing openings at the first level have been fitted with new steel windows and doors. The original spaces for windows now accommodate new and operable ones, while the main roof has been perforated with skylights to allow maximum light, thus reducing the need to create more windows and disrupt the original stone walls.

Stairs connecting the three floors of the house slide between the old stone walls and the smooth cherry-wood walls of the new house within, with the heavy timber ceiling and concrete floors giving a solid and secure feel. Animal pens on the ground floor were replaced with a kitchen, dining and family room. The master bedroom was placed on the top floor with a bridge made of original hand-hewn oak beams and translucent glass, connecting the room to the master bath suite. Steel columns were then added to support the old wooden ceiling structure.

Quite proud of his finished masterpiece, which is no surprise as the ‘barn' has also won the AIA Merit and Honor awards - Leddy puts this architectural success down to the illustration of an idea that architecture is a marriage of poetry and pragmatism. "From the very first site visit through to completion, our vision was to create a dynamic history of the place within the old stone barn - a sort of critical dialogue with time," he says. "We wanted the occupants to enjoy a visceral experience by literally rubbing against history on a daily basis. With this home, we were able to achieve our poetic intent by developing an experiential dialogue between the past and the present."

William Leddy is an architect who derives his inspirations from history, and in a manner that does not blatantly reapply past creations. Instead he pays homage to the collective genius of old with modern thought. His parting words leave us with something to chew over: "In this era of increasing homogeneity and uncertainty, we seek to create meaningful modern architecture that anchors us in our time and place. We strive to avoid empty stylistic and formal gestures in our work, preferring instead to weave our designs within the far richer context of the world around us - its history, nature and craft. This project was an early success in this direction."