Bringing the Outside In
Cathy and Bob Bring Expansive Spaces into their Yankee Barn
Expansive Spaces, and a Wealth of Custom Details
— Cathy and Bob Bring Open Spaces, Generous Window Areas and a Range of Unique Amenities
into their
Yankee Barn
“You never know what you’re getting into when you get into ‘old wood.’” That’s the conclusion Cathy and Bob reached as they planned their vacation home in the Catskill region of New York State. “My family has been coming here since I was five years old and we knew the area well,” said Cathy. “We bought a small townhouse nearby, but we ended up spending more time than we anticipated ... we found we needed the space.”
As Cathy and Bob canvassed the area, they couldn’t find anything suitable to expand into. Existing homes were expensive, and the “fix-up” properties needed huge amounts of work ... with no way of knowing what might be found during renovation, and no assurance of staying in budget.
An eighteen-foot ‘wall of windows’ complements the family/dining area in Cathy and Bob’s Yankee Barn.
“We looked at a number of options during the planning stages.” Cathy said. “At first we considered a log home ... but that was very short-lived! To us, they all looked very much the same inside and out, very monotone. We also looked at modulars, but we quickly rejected them because we felt the quality just wasn’t what we wanted.”
Options and Choices
“When we decided to build, we found everything we were looking for in Yankee Barn—the traditional values of post and beam, the character, easy to customize, open flowing spaces ... and tons of windows!” They designed their Yankee Barn with a wall of windows 18 feet high, and a granary going out to the back with eight windows.
Cathy describes their Yankee Barn as “perfectly situated” on a knoll on 11 country acres, with wonderful views especially to the west ... “the house owns the property!” Cathy says with a smile.
It’s All About the Family
As they began the planning process with the YBH staff, Cathy and Bob quickly realized they wanted an expansive family room and kitchen area, “because everyone spends their time in the kitchen anyway!”
Yankee Barn’s post and beam construction provided an open-plan dining area at the center of the first floor that flows into the family room space. Upstairs are a second level balcony and loft area, a big office/sitting area and a guest bedroom with full bath. The third level includes two lofts and a connecting catwalk, two open cupolas providing natural light and ventilation, a TV room, a workout room and additional bedrooms.
Four-season Efficiency
Despite the openness of the floorplan and the number of windows, Cathy and Bob have found their Yankee Barn very efficient to heat... “this house costs us less than our family home, with much more open space.” Cathy also says the house is so energy-efficient, ceiling fans and natural convection through the cupolas keep them comfortably cool during the summer ... “we’ve never had to install air conditioning.”
Balconies, open cupolas, a thirty-one foot ceiling in the Great Room, a fifty-foot view facing deck with a spa off the master bedroom, a hand-hammered copper tub in the master bath ... the flexibility of the Yankee Barn building system let Cathy and Bob incorporate a great range of special features.
Cathy credits Yankee Barn and her builder, Franz Krickl, proprietor of NB Concepts located in Windham, NY, for a very smooth construction process. “Because we weren’t there full-time, it was very important to find a reliable builder, one whose decisions we could trust. Yankee Barn was excellent, absolutely no problems with them, and they worked really well with Franz.” Cathy also discovered the value in having a YBH site supervisor on premises... “the supervisor acts as a ‘guiding hand’ for the building crew, and it gets the house totally enclosed so quickly.”
Very Involved
Despite the fact that she and Bob live a number of hours away, Cathy described herself as “very involved in the project.” She remembers with a laugh how she bought ceramic tile from a dealer near her family home, and watched as they loaded the heavy pallets onto her rented truck. “I maneuvered that loaded truck all the way up the NY State Thruway, two hours to the house site ... by myself! I was not used to the feel of a loaded truck.” Cathy mentioned that they had also built their family home, but “the quality just isn’t the same as with our Yankee Barn ... this house is solid.”
total square footage: 3,924 sq. ft.
Floor Plan
First Floor
Second Floor
Attic
