Abundance of Craft for a Collector's Cache on a South Carolina Estate

Submitted by Megan Avila on Friday, July 24, 2020 - 16:47.

Nestled on nearly 30 acres in Palmetto Bluff, SC a family home, guest house, and barn flow from the architectural plan created by Rob Bramhall of Rob Bramhall Architects. “The site is beautiful, and the clients were great, allowing for architecture that could respond to the land and work for them,” shares Rob.

 

The project began with a guest home for the clients to enjoy while they sold their old home. Next was the barn, one of the first features visitors encounter as they enter the long drive.

A monitor barn, this project has a raised center section with multiple windows allowing abundant natural light into the space below.

 

Intended for storage and maintenance of the car-enthusiast couple’s collection, the overall design was inspired by a prominent local horse stable. “We immediately thought timber for the barn structure. Timber framing allowed for the look we wanted and the ability to create spans for the car “stalls” plus width and height for the center aisle which serves as the thoroughfare for the couple’s car hauler.” 

Wanting the barn to feel as if it had stood for decades, a custom finish applied to the timbers gives an intentionally aged look. The exterior siding also received an “aging” finish.
14’ garage doors for the entrance to each “stall”, framed by timber posts and occupied by a collection of classic race cars. An open mechanic’s shop space occupies part of the lower portion of the barn, complete with car lift. The frame was crafted with over 500 Douglas fir timbers.

“We carried the higher volume of the barn timber frame to the main gathering space of the home,” continued Rob. “The client’s family gathers here often. The space accommodates their entertainment needs while the overall home is comfortable for the couple day to day.”

 

Much like the barn, timbers were custom finished to achieve an "aged" look for the common gathering space of the main home.

“Throughout the project there was mutual respect and collaboration between all parties: the clients, the builder, New Energy Works, and others.”

Specific to timber framing, Rob shared, “The material is natural and adaptable, flexible. Reclaimed timber can work in a modern design; glulams with steel can create large spans; timbers produce a desirable modern/rustic mix. New Energy Works has the knowledge to work with all types of timber, to adapt a frame to the architecture with the same precision and accuracy we demand in our designs; we can trust them to do it right.” 

Thank you to Rob for giving his thoughts and time to us. We’re looking forward to future collaborations!

Another thanks to the builder, Josh Simpson of Simpson Construction, for sharing photos of this project as well as a very cool time-lapse raising video you can find here: 

Josh noted, “The focus on installation and safety was impressive. Everyone on-site was skilled, professional, and right-on with timelines and execution.”

Reach out if you’d like to talk about timber framing for your project.

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