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	HOMEOWNERS NEWSLETTER	Fall 2001

	"Our neighbors have asked us where we found the antique barn. The Yankee Barn addition looks like it has been here for a 100 years or more." To learn how you can design your own barn home, Order the Design Guide. The Yankee Barn Design Guide includes a three-ring binder with 175 pages of design ideas, color photographs, interviews with homeowners and custom plans.

	After removing a kitchen addition built in the early 1900's, a Yankee Barn granary and ell were added to create a country kitchen with a large breakfast area open to the outside courtyard and porch through French doors. The original home had all the charm of a farmhouse built in 1784. Over the past 200 years the house retained much of its original character boasting a post and beam frame made of hand-hewn American chestnut, wide board flooring of American chestnut and pine, antique flat panel doors, original 12 over 12 divided light windows, plaster walls and antique hand wrought hardware. The homeowners wanted additional living space and turned to Georgetown, Conn., architect, Dan Conlon, AIA, to plan an addition that would blend with their historic Colonial house. They wanted an additional bathroom upstairs to serve the three upstairs bedrooms, a kitchen that took advantage of the views of the property, and a family room. "We knew roughly how we wanted the exterior elevations to look, but it was tricky fitting some of the elements together inside so it all flowed together. We worked on perfecting the plans for over a year, researching houses of similar age with historic additions."
	The open breakfast area extends from the new, modern kitchen yet retains the charm of a 1700's farmhouse with a large cooking hearth fireplace made from fieldstones reclaimed on the site, including a single 7-foot hearthstone. Though the original plans called for conventional framing, the owners thought a post and beam frame would be more in keeping with the character of the original house. After learning about Yankee Barn, the owners attended one of the Yankee Barn design seminars. They sent the plans prepared by their architect to Yankee Barn for possible conversion from stick framing to a Yankee Barn post and beam frame. "It was a little bit coincidence and part good luck that we ran into Yankee Barn. We met them at the Big E, went to a seminar, worked with one of their designers to transform our architect's plans into Yankee Barn's frame structure, and the rest is history." Only a few windows had to be moved to convert the architect's plans into Yankee Barn frames. For the family room, a 24' Yankee Barn cape frame enclosed the living space. A 16' two-story Yankee Barn ell enclosed the breakfast area on the main floor and master bath upstairs. A Yankee Barn granary was added extending an existing roofline over a study at the far end of the house across a new porch to the kitchen. "Yankee Barn was very accommodating. They were as excited about the project as we were. They looked at it as something new, fresh, and exciting. They added a lot of energy to the project." Because of all the unknowns to be addressed in an addition to a 200-year-old house, the owners acted as their own general contractor. Though neither had worked on a building project of this scope, they had some building experience and felt they could stretch their budget much farther if they did the work themselves. "As our own general contractor, we were on site and could make quick decisions. We could exchange one material for another without a contractor's change order and corresponding charge. We also could take advantage of specials at supply houses and knew that no corners were being cut."
	The Yankee Barn two-story ell frame encloses the breakfast area downstairs and a master bath upstairs with a view across the property. "Working with Yankee Barn made our role as general contractor much easier. They worked with our architect to get all the current elevations correct so the addition lined up seamlessly with the old house. Not an easy feat!" "We started building during the winter, and appreciated the organized manner in which the Yankee Barn materials were packed. Everything was covered and protected until it was ready to assemble." While the light, open living space in the Yankee Barn family room addition contrasts with the historic living room (upper right), the post and beam frame ties the old to the new. "Yankee Barn has a great crew of people to work with. They are well rounded in what they offered to the project. They were available during the construction process to help solve the engineering problems of working with an old house." "We've seen so many antique homes with new additions where the new construction didn't fit well with the old. Our neighbors have asked us where we found the antique barn. The Yankee Barn addition looks like it has been here for a 100 years or more." "Yankee Barn was very accommodating. They looked at it as something new, fresh, and exciting. They added a lot of energy to the project."
	A must-have book for anyone who owns or dreams of owning a timber frame home. By Tina Skinner and Tony Hanslin" "Barn Style Homes is an inspirational source of design ideas for today's timber frame homes." Roland Sweet – Editor, Timber Homes Illustrated Yankee Barn Homes is pleased to offer the book on their website for a special discount of $29 plus shipping. Simply click here to order. The Greenwich Time's Home magazine published April 22, 2001, raises the ante on chic featuring a Greenwich, Connecticut Yankee Barn home. Recognizing common Yankee Barn features including "a beautiful fireplace, an open staircase and soaring ceilings with exposed woodwork," author Mary Beth Faller and photographer Paul Desmarais capture the formal French provincial look created with family heirlooms and light wood. A Westport Yankee Barn is also described in the article as "almost Shaker in its contemporary simplicity. Everything is bathed in the sunlight that pours from skylights and big windows." This homeowner first considered building a Yankee Barn addition onto his 1850's home. After an engineer determined that the old house had too many structural deficiencies, he decided to build a new Yankee Barn.	Kevyn and Tony found the perfect property in Buck's County, Pennsylvania with a historic stone farmhouse built in 1810. Originally purchased as a country retreat for weekends, the house soon became their primary residence and they needed to add on. Because of the shape and slope of the property, the addition was added to the back of the original house. The design maintained the integrity of the original house and added a large living room and master bedroom suite. This Yankee Barn addition settles comfortably behind an historic 1810 stone farmhouse adding modern energy efficiency and bright open space without destroying the integrity of the older home. "We have the space we need and the huge bonus of lots of windows," said Kevyn. "I was worried about the flow from old to new. The house looks like it's always been together. People don't know the old from the new." Roberta and Thomas thought about adding on when they first bought their late 1600's farmhouse in Massachusetts. Because only a sidewalk separated the old farmhouse from the street, the addition was added in the back, lengthwise along the house. The challenge was how to make the added space work with the old house. "We have the old house we really loved and inexpensively created the space we wanted," said Roberta. "The two houses blend very well inside and out. You don't get the feeling you are walking from one house into another, though you do walk from a cozy, quaint farmhouse to a light, open space." I received the Yankee Barn Homes Scholarship which I would like to thank you for. In the fall I will be attending Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. I plan to major in Chemistry and study pre-med. Thank you so much for helping me with my education. – Alexis Bohrer I like your Yankee Barn homes, a matter of fact we are building one right now. Thank you for helping us think of a Yankee Barn home and remember it's better in a barn. - Matthew, age 9 Thank you for helping us build our dream home. We truly love the house and the feeling of space and warmth the timbers bring. We certainly would recommend Yankee Barn homes to anyone considering a timber frame home. – Mike and Lisa Thank you again for such a fine product and responsive staff. I can't imagine building any other way. – Pixie

	The beauty of a Yankee Barn addition is in the flexibility. Add a traditional ell or granary to become part of the original house or build a separate guesthouse or carriage barn for the rambling look known as New England "Extended Architecture." Extended architecture is common in Northern New England where a wing might be added for the hired help, a shed for wood storage or carriages, a granary for more space in the kitchen, and a barn for the carriage horses and family cows. This Yankee Barn uses both styles of addition. The kitchen granary and the two-story ell for the breakfast area and master bath were built to look like part of the original farmhouse. The connector and family room "barn" extends the architecture, rambling from the main house to a carriage house. Where the addition is part of the house, clapboards were stained to match the house. To differentiate the separate carriage house, vertical barn board siding was stained barn red. Design Hints Rooflines: Additions work best if the new roof or wall does not extend in one unbroken plane from the existing house to the addition. Smooth connections are difficult to make without a bump or change in angle. Instead , the roofline of the addition is often at least 12" lower than the existing roofline or meets with the existing roof at right angles. Likewise, the addition wall should be 12" or more in from the existing wall. In this Yankee Barn addition only the granary roof continued an existing roof plane. It works smoothly, but required a lot of extra care on site. Step up or down: The old house may have lower ceilings or be framed with smaller floor joists than considered acceptable today. This can make a step up to the second floor or down to the first floor necessary. A step is not necessarily a problem, if it is located to fit with the design. Planning ahead helps!
	Photographs: Suki Coughlin, Stylist: Paula McFarland ©2000 Yankee Barn Homes, Tony Hanslin, Chairman and CEO