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With property on the quiet side of Mount Desert Island in Maine, Don designed and built a Yankee Barn in 1998 for use primarily in the summer. "I wanted a bit of a Maine camp feel, without being 'too campy.' The Yankee Barn design fit so well."

"The tall ceilings and openness were important and I liked the idea of a wraparound porch. Being outside during the summer was so important," said Don.

He used the Yankee Barn Mark I frame with its tried and true floor plan as his starting point. (See Tried and True Flexibility.) The layout with an open floor plan worked well for summer visits. When Don, and his wife, Kate, decided to turn the Yankee Barn summer home into their full-time residence, they wanted to make a few changes.

"The rest of the house fit our needs. All except the kitchen. Kate is a great chef. We wanted a substantial kitchen, big enough for both of us to cook without bumping into each other. Plus our guests always gravitate into the kitchen when we entertain," said Don.

Kate had restaurant experience and a flair for entertaining from small dinner parties to a yearly Solstice party for 60. The couple had outgrown the small kitchen in the summer house. "The linear open design is perfect, we just needed a much larger kitchen," said Kate. "And all the large window treatments bring the outdoors indoors."

"The Yankee Barn design lends itself to change. Different people can move in the house and make it their own," observed Kate. "Yankee Barn has the flexibility for people to have their own style."

The original Great Room with soaring cathedral ceiling and large window wall flows into the extension for the kitchen, dining room, and sitting area.

Kate had her kitchen wish list. She wanted space to move around the kitchen plus extra workspace and counter depth. She also needed all her tools, including a built-in wok and spice drawers, easily accessible to create her Thai, Indian, and Asian specialties.

"The basic shell of the Yankee Barn fit when we first built the summer house. When the time came for a change, we could think outside the box and create the extra space we needed," said Don.

To accommodate the change in the roofline, a few windows were replaced upstairs. The additional foundation to support the extension created a larger basement area used for a recording studio for the couple’s a cappella music business, plus a root cellar, larder, and cedar closet.

"With the addition, I have the kitchen I’ve always dreamed of, plus a root cellar and larder," said Kate."And Don built the music studio he wanted."

"We love that the added space did not disrupt the continuity of our Yankee Barn house."

"Working with the design was extremely satisfying. It takes your breath away to see how it all turned out. This is our work," said Don.

"Let your imagination run wild. There are many things you can do if you think outside the box."

"I love what we have created in our added space, it has made our house our home," said Kate. "We now enjoy it more with our family and friends. Thank you, Yankee Barn."

The starting point for the design of a Yankee Barn is the post and beam frame. While Yankee Barn Homes has developed many frames to choose from, the original Mark I designed and built in 1969 is still the most popular frame.

After 35 years and a thousand variations to the layout, the Mark I rings true for many homeowners, while allowing modifications both inside and outside the "box." Within this frame, there are two floors of living space that can be configured in nearly endless variations of room location and size. For example, some homeowners opt for a two-story Great Room soaring to a cathedral ceiling with a large window wall, while others decide to forgo the cathedral ceiling in the living room to use the entire second floor as bedrooms. In some designs, the master bedroom is on the first floor, while other designs place the master bedroom upstairs.

Outside the "box," frame extensions can be added for further flexibility in the design of the living space. Extensions can be included in the original design, or added years later, as with Don and Kate, when the homeowner’s needs change. Homeowners add greenhouses or granaries along the eave wall in the kitchen for breakfast nooks or large cooking and dining areas. Some want a separate master bedroom suite and add an ell to the main frame. Others add an ell for a private office area or media room. Often, horse barn or guesthouse frames double as garages with guest quarters on the second floor.

Over the years many Yankee Barns have shared common roots in the tried and true Mark I frame, yet no two floor plans are exactly the same. The flexibility both within and outside the frame allows each homeowner to create a one-of–a-kind Yankee Barn.

Morgan Figley and Julia Knowles 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.

Morgan Figley will be attending Virginia Tech in the fall majoring in Pre-Med. She has been a volunteer for Youth in Action this year.

Julia Knowles has been a player in all of the dramas and musicals. She has also been an active member of the field hockey team for the last three years. She will be attending George Washington University in the fall majoring in Women’s Studies.

A Mark I frame with extensions and variations can fit into any landscape. The clean simple lines of a Yankee Barn frame have the feel of a traditional barn. Depending on the desires of the homeowner, the basic barn shape, or "box," can be played up or down with frame extensions and finishing details.

For Don, the landscape and site lent itself to capturing the character of a northern Maine camp. He added a wraparound porch and dormers to his Yankee Barn to create this look. For finishing details, he chose cedar shingles left to weather gracefully and white trim.

Along with adding architectural interest, the porch extends the living area and shades the interior living spaces from the heat of the summer sun. Don chose an open porch to provide shelter from the sun and rain. The view of the property is not obstructed by screens and cooling breezes can circulate. In addition, the porch roof protects doors and windows from rain and snow. Dormers added visual appeal to the exterior of the house, along with light and height in the second floor bedrooms.

Photographs: Suki Coughlin, Stylist: Paula McFarland
©2004 Yankee Barn Homes, Tony Hanslin, Chairman and CEO