Framing specific views and coordinating architectural and agricultural sequences are the drivers of design and redevelopment of this former woodland farm in Columbia County, NY. 

The architects were hired develop a new Agricultural Master Plan as well as to design a Custom Residence, Storage Barn with Farmhand Apartment, and Farm Store with a Commercial Kitchen.

A number of distinct programmatic areas on the property lend themselves to curated sight lines from the main residence. The property, according to the new master plan, includes commercial, agricultural and residential landuses, where interior volumes and views from the buildings are directed towards distinct areas in the surrounding parcel. Commercial areas are located downhill from the residence and dictate the need to see arriving guests and farmstore customers. 

Surrounding agricultural fields lend themselves to distinct Hudson Valley pastoral scenery, overlooking animals and historic farmland. These vistas provide uniquely-framed views that can be seen from leisure areas within the house interior – where massive glazing systems provide multiple ‘living’ landscape vistas according to calibrated viewsheds onto the land. 

An iconic barn typology is reflected in the form of the house as well as the Barn and Farmstore, with specifically large roof overhangs to shelter entrances from the region’s climate. This traditional typology has been reinterpreted through modern, clean lines and unique details throughout, giving the house a stand-out quality and one-of-a-kind features. For instance, a two-material cladding trope is employed in all three buildings to indicate differences in interior programming. Additionally, monumental eighteen-foot vertical glazing units delicately slice the barn-form through the middle of each long side and are positioned to observe specific landscape features of the surrounding property. 

Furthermore, realities of family life on an operating farm established the need for specific processional spaces into and out of the house: places to drop muddy boots, wash hands, and transition from intensive outdoor labor to the comfort of being at home. This procession is reflected through interior material sequences and form-driven positioning, guiding one from spaces out in the farmland, to interior living areas.

Overarching themes of the house, therefore, are to offer moments of quiet reflection from a hilltop overlook, and to occupy a working landscape in sequential and integrated ways. Adding value by participating in its surroundings, the house serves as an integrated landscape feature imbued with cues to the importance of being connected to its historic and operational surroundings.