A True Barn Home Design | Yankee Barn Homeowners Newsletter

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	HOMEOWNERS NEWSLETTER	Fall 2003

"Yankee Barn has a great product, with a true barn feel, but the reason we chose to work with them is the responsiveness of everyone in the company."

To learn how you can design your own barn home, order our Design Guide which includes 175 pages of design ideas, color photographs, interviews with homeowners, and custom plans.

Eileen and John have designed and built two Yankee Barns, one to fit their needs and a second (shown in photo) with flexibility to appeal to potential buyers.

"We chose Yankee Barn because of all the products out there in post and beam construction, Yankee Barn is the truest to the barn form," said Eileen. She and her husband, John, wanted their home to blend into the horse farm landscape surrounding their property. "Yankee Barn builds barns. Their homes have the barn-like feel that we wanted."

"Barns are hot here in our area," said John. People are drawn to the idea of a converted barn. The new construction of a Yankee Barn post and beam gives the best of both old and new worlds. "The thing that drove us to the design was the openness it afforded us."

Working with Bob Mahoney, one of the Yankee Barn designers, Eileen and John created the living space they wanted. Eileen has designed many homes and knew what she wanted in her own.

"I design function first," said Eileen. With two sons in college visiting only during breaks, Eileen and John wanted a self-contained first level of living space perfect for the empty nesters, with separate guest quarters upstairs. "This house evolved as we looked at the Yankee Barn components, and asked 'What can I do with these pieces?'" explained Eileen.

Eileen fashioned the traditional stone entry after studying photographs a friend had taken of barns in England and Scotland.

"The Yankee Barn system is so flexible that I could do whatever I wanted with the pieces. I attempted to create a different look by choosing new and different frames and morphing the Yankee Barn components."

With the initial design drawn using a Yankee Barn Carolina Frame and a Horsebarn Frame, Eileen and John worked with Russ Prudhomme, Yankee Barn Homes' Vice President of Operations, and the Yankee Barn technical department to engineer the structures.

"This was an iterative process for us, and for Yankee Barn. Eileen worked up the design and Yankee Barn fit the engineering around her drawings," said John.

"I know I was fairly demanding," confessed Eileen. "But the people at Yankee Barn were open to my ideas as a breath of fresh air, something different, a new challenge. It was so impressive to me that I didn't have to compromise on what I wanted."

Eileen and John selected Yankee Barn's Carolina Frame for its wide open feeling to enclose the Great Room, dining area, and kitchen all in one barn.

A large kitchen island provides workspace plus seating with views over a half wall into the dining area and Great Room.

"Nothing that may have appeared as a challenge came back with 'No' as the answer. Yankee Barn was able to do everything we requested. They would figure it out, call me back right away, and say 'Yes, we can do that.'"

When it came time to build, Eileen and John acted as their own general contractor. "With the Yankee Barn system, the construction takes less time to get fully enclosed and weather tight. We had no trouble building in the winter months," said John.

"The Yankee Barn site supervisor was integral to the success. He was a tremendous asset and well worth having as part of the crew."

"Everyone at Yankee Barn was fabulous to work with. They were more than accommodating," said Eileen. "Yankee Barn has a great product, with a true barn feel, but the reason we chose to work with them is the responsiveness of everyone in the company."

Designed to fit the needs of empty nesters, the first level is self-contained with living spaces and master bedroom suite.

Eileen and John have designed over 300 houses and built quite a few themselves. Their business, This New House, has evolved from this experience. After designing and serving as the general contractor for their Yankee Barn home, Eileen designed a second Yankee Barn as a spec house. She envisioned a true country farmhouse as an escape from New York City with a large living area for the owners and separate spaces for guests.

Eileen and John designed and built a second Yankee Barn as a spec house with a floor plan that could fit different potential buyers.

"The design had to be flexible, because we don't know who the buyer is going to be," explained Eileen. "We needed the layout to work for many categories of people so they could visualize themselves living in the house."

Eileen designs function before form, which makes a good match with Yankee Barn. She looks at how people really live and does the floor planning. "I look at the traffic flow and how people want to live first, then I figure out how to make it look good."

The layout Eileen designed could fit the needs of an older couple with visiting family, a young couple with children and a need for a nanny's quarters, or a middle aged couple who likes to entertain and have plenty of room for guests.

Eileen chose Yankee Barn's Hampton Frame as her starting point and added a Horsebarn Frame and two ells to enclose the living space. For flexibility depending on the buyer, she designed two master bedroom suites on both the first and the second floor. She included a large breakfast area along with a dining room that could serve as an office. The apartment over the garage could be used either as separate living quarters for guests or for a nanny.

Calling all current and future Yankee Barn homeowners: join the Neighborhood on the Yankee Barn Web site. With membership, you will have access to over 200 plans, plus a virtual tour of Yankee Barns.

Anyone who purchases the Yankee Barn Design Guide or our book, Barn Style Homes: Design Ideas for Timber Frame Houses, will be automatically registered. If you have already purchased the design guide or our book, or are currently a Yankee Barn homeowner, please email us at info@yankeebarnhomes.com.

Margaret Clary and Andrew Gilson have been awarded Yankee Barn Homes scholarships, announced Tony Hanslin, Chief Executive Officer of Yankee Barn Homes. The scholarships were established in memory of Emil Hanslin, Tony's father and the founder of Yankee Barn Homes. Scholarships of $1,000 each are made available to Grantham students heading to college or technical school.

Margaret Clary will be attending Tufts, majoring in Liberal Arts with an interest in International Relations. During her high school career, she played field hockey, lacrosse, and track. She was a member of the Lebanon High School band and has done community service for three years with the Youth-in-Action program.

Andrew Gilson will be attending University of New Hampshire with an interest in Spanish and Elementary Education. During his high school career, he has participated in the track program for three years and the golf program for his junior and senior year. Andrew has been volunteering at Hanover Street School.

Designer Notes

Eileen and John are the proud owners of one of the first Yankee Barn Carolina frames to be built. In response to many requests for a Yankee Barn with all the living space on one floor, Yankee Barn created the new frame. The Carolina Frame concept is based on a one-story Mark I. This allows the whole structure to be open and lowers the vaulted ceiling to create a cozier space. The advantage is spectacular open living space within the full length and height of the barn. This frame does not allow for space, considered to be inexpensive space, on the second floor for guest rooms or an office. The standard foot-print of this frame is 25' wide by 48' long available in 4-foot increments longer or shorter.

Eileen and John chose the Carolina Frame for the open living area. Their frame is 46' long and encloses their Great Room, dining room, and kitchen. They added a 74' Horsebarn frame to enclose the master bedroom suite, office, and garage on the first level with guest quarters on the second floor. The Carolina Frame gives homeowners one more starting point for the design of a one-of-a-kind Yankee Barn.

HOMEOWNERS NEWSLETTER