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Like Robert Frost's "road in the yellow wood", the house-hunting process leads a prospective buyer down intriguing paths; homeowners often end up in a place they never expected. That's what happened to Patty and Fred of the Dartmouth region in N.H., as they searched for the perfect home in 2001. "We spent the spring househunting," Patty recalls, "and found a house we liked. We didn't get that house, but fortunately for us it was a Yankee Barn post and beam. We had driven by Yankee Barn headquarters in Grantham, N.H., but we'd never been inside a Yankee Barn." But once they saw that home, they decided to build rather than trying to find what they wanted, "... because nothing ever looked as good after seeing that Yankee Barn!"

View across the dining area, showing the original cape connected to the Yankee Barn in its final 'ell' configuration.

A Lasting First Impression When patty and her husband first entered that Yankee Barn home, her strongest impression was of the Great Room. "Just looking up and seeing the beams and all the light coming in, is what got me very excited. I love sunlight, and we really wanted a house with the option of including lots of windows.

When you live in a northern climate, you want as much light as possible in your living space. We took the feeling we got from that initial house, and when we looked for properties, that's what we thought of first. We really liked this style of house ... let's find a property that suits it."

They were fortunate to find the perfect setting in the fall of 2001. "What struck us about this property was the light—it's nestled up against Moose Mountain, but with westerly views of the Green Mountains and wonderful light from multiple directions."

However, like most building sites it had some interesting wrinkles, one of which was a house on the property—a 200- year-old post and beam cape. "We already had a Yankee Barn home design in mind," Patty said, "but suddenly we were presented with a lovely property and this wonderful historic cape."

Initial Plans Their first thought was to build the Yankee Barn upslope for better views, and leave the cape as a separate cottage or workshop. The only issue was placement—the cape was right next to the rural dirt road …"you could stand on the road and almost touch the house!" At that point they met with Bruce Parsons, their design consultant at Yankee Barn Homes.

The great room, with spectacular views of the green mountains through the Yankee Barn's expansive windows.

Patty had concerns about energy efficiency in a house with so many windows, but when they visited the model home and met with Bruce, those concerns were satisfied when they learned about Yankee Barn's integrated panelized design, and the quality of the windows and the construction process.

The other pressing factor was a serious time constraint. They sold the house in which they were living and were staying in a summer home, "but that only goes so far as winter approaches!" They needed not only a quality home, but one that could be constructed in a very tight timeframe. Yankee Barn and the contractor promised it was do-able.

An expansive and open kitchen design, created by Crown Point Cabinetry of Claremont, literally at the center of their Yankee Barn... the focal pint for activity in the house.

In fact, once the site work and foundation are complete, a Yankee Barn can be built in any weather, and is sealed and weather-tight very quickly—the frame can go up in as little as three days. "It was up so fast, I was amazed," Patty said. Excavation began in June 2002, the builders started framing in July, and the family moved into a totally finished Yankee Barn home two days before Christmas—"every detail done by then."

Integrating the Old and New

Patty said they hadn't initially intended to integrate the old cape with their new Yankee Barn. "The cape was something we planned on using eventually, not right away." But during the design process with Bruce Parsons, they discussed the option of a master bedroom and office on the main floor. "By positioning the Yankee Barn so the gable end faced the views, we could attach the old cape to the Yankee Barn, and that became our bedroom/office. We found we could perfectly integrate the 'old' post and beam with the 'new'."

The family took their inspiration from the venerable New England "rambler-style", where the house was connected to the barn. "That was the inspiration for the final design. The cape had the original posts and beams and many traditional details ... we pulled up the linoleum, and there was gorgeous original pine and hemlock waiting to be finished!" Of course, there were also the traditional downsides—the sills were rotted, the house had no foundation and actually sat on dirt over a root cellar. "If we did anything, we would have to jack it up and rebuild the sills, foundation and cellar before we even started renovation."

An inviting entryway showcases the Yankee Barn Home to the visitors.

Yankee Barn's modular construction makes details like this upstairs nook easy to execute.

It turned out to be well within budget to move the cape up the hill, and place it on a new foundation while constructing the Yankee Barn. "Our desire, the practicality, the romance and the beauty of it all came together in one final plan—we felt like we were making great use of the old house, and also captured the "barn living" we wanted from the Yankee Barn. This style of house is a wonderful example of the way life was, and we wanted to maintain that character."

Challenges

The main challenge in integrating the two structures was size—the Yankee Barn was much larger than the original cape. "Coming up with a way to situate the cape and the house so they played off each other, but functionally worked together, was very important to us."

In addition to practical considerations, Patty said they wanted to maintain as much of the tradition of the site as possible. They didn't cut down any trees, following the old tree line and stone walls, and the front of the house faces a naturally-open farm field overlooking the views. They also used the angle created by the cape and barn for a flagstone patio/garden area, a peaceful spot to view the mountains and listen to the birds sing.

"Our other consideration is that our son Matt is 6'4", and plays several large musical instruments. We wanted a space that, acoustically, could accommodate the sound of those instruments. We've had several recitals here, and the acoustics are fabulous."

In terms of living space, the biggest drawback of the cape frame was the upstairs space; the headroom was fairly narrow due to a low knee wall. But this points out the inherent flexibility in the Yankee Barn concept—the "barn-style" plan allowed them to choose a frame that had six-foot knee walls, creating a wonderful space for their son's bedroom. Another important consideration was their desire to eventually live on one floor, and so the rebuilt cape includes the master bedroom suite, the home office, and a laundry-mudroom area.

View through the restored cape into the master bedroom suite.

The Perfect Space

"As a family, we enjoy the space so much … we find it very livable for our lifestyle. We love the informalness of it, but we also feel the space accommodates our furniture style, our art style, our daily living style and the music we love in our lives. For example, under the Great Room we have a basement with daylight windows, where we created a rec room so our son and his friends could have a separate space to gather. On the outside, it's covered in stone salvaged from the old foundation, which was also used for retaining walls to hold our perennial flower beds."

Family Room, showing the connector to the restored cape, back left.

I"It was very important to use everything we found in ways that really showcased what was here, but also allowed us to integrate the Yankee Barn into the overall design. The people who worked on this house were more than willing to help us realize that dream. We saw it as a challenge, but also as an opportunity—one we're very glad we took. We can say we live in an old house ... and we live in a new house too!"

The Value of the Builder Relationship

Patty says that first and foremost, having a builder like G.R. Porter & Sons was a critically valuable asset. "They were open-minded from the very beginning. Tim Porter and Wayne Gerome were very accommodating; they met with Bruce Parsons initially to 'talk it through' and make sure the details would work out. They were wonderful to work with."

The family had a local metal artisan, Kevin Nunn, custom-build the iron railings throughout the home. The fireplace is also quite unique, an advanced "labyrinth stove" by Tulikivi, executed in soapstone and installed by Doug Wood, a mason in Vermont. With the energy efficiency inherent in the Yankee Barn, the stove heats the entire Great Room all the way through December. "The stove is a work of art; it's incredibly efficient, and it lets us use the existing resource of firewood on our property … something that not only makes us more energy-efficient but, character-wise, has a wonderful look and feel."

Yankee Barn's Independent Supervisor Program

The Yankee Barn kit concept combines the charm and romance of a traditional post and- beam structure with a remarkably efficient building package—expansive open spaces, exceptional energy efficiency, and as Patty and Fred discovered, the ability to customize the project in innumerable ways.

One way to greatly increase the cost effectiveness of your project is through Yankee Barn's unique Independent Supervisor program. Yankee Barn supervisors are highly trained in the latest products and assembly methods used at Yankee Barn Homes.

For example, they understand how to build the system for maximum energy efficiency—their attention to detail can actually increase your energy efficiency by up to 20%. These are "working" supervisors, trained to make corrections on-site to minimize disruption and keep things moving. We've often found they can cut days, and sometimes weeks, from your construction schedule.

Ask about the details of Yankee Barn's Independent Supervisor program—your "eyes and ears" on the construction site.

Starting in 2006: Yankee Barn Homes newest homeowner service — our shell assembly program. Please ask us for details!

Project Details

Senior Designer: Bruce Parsons, AIBD, Yankee Barn Homes

Builder: G.R. Porter & Sons, Norwich, VT

Project Supervisor: Wayne Gerome, G.R. Porter & Sons

Frame: Yankee Barn Mark I, post & beam frame with integrated panelized construction

Square footage: Yankee Barn kit section: 2282 sq. ft.; Builder connector and cape: 1132 sq. ft. Bedrooms: Three—one on main floor, two on upper floors

Photographs: Suki Coughlin, Stylist: Paula McFarland
©2005 Yankee Barn Homes, Tony Hanslin, Chairman and CEO