Not too country, not too modern farmhouse, not too lodge-like. The design for this modest home near Allegany State Park in Pennsylvania pays homage to the family’s Japanese heritage while integrating some traditional timber frame and barn form influences. Below is a bit of the design story along with a digital fly-through of the project:
The great room offers an interpretation of barn design with high open ceilings and a spacious loft. Facing west, consideration was made to the impacts of the sun with a deeper overhang shading the non-gable end. Curved bottom chord parallel trusses with black steel tension rods and canted braces span the great room and frame the view to the gently sloping active farm fields and hills beyond.
The main entry greets visitors with large overhangs and low-pitched roof in a nod to classic Japanese forms while details such as the window grills and a stone foundation echo traditional farmhouse aesthetics.
The fly-through below begins in the loft, which provides a lantern-like glow in the exterior view (while offering more seating and away space inside), through to the common areas and concludes back outside as night settles over the home:
This project’s intention is to honor heritage, offer respite to the homeowners, and provide shelter for their family to congregate away from it all, for generations. All while enjoying hobbies such as farming and watching wildlife!
Many thanks to all of you for your continued support and communication as we keep moving during these trying times. Thanks also to our design team and their WFH efforts including the 3D visuals that help all of us get ‘inside’ a project before it is raised.
