Block Island House is the epitome of contemporary house design. Our newest home is a prefabricated home with a tiny footprint, is completely panelized, and has an ultra-modern vibe inside and out. Currently underway in a New England coastal community, Block Island House is environmentally friendly and visually appealing. At 1594 square feet, the three bedroom, three bath house has everything you’d need within a smaller house footprint.
Contemporary House Design for Beach Living
Yankee Barn Homes are prefabricated in our NH factory. Prefabricated panels help the shell go together quickly on the build site. The True Wall™ and Roof™ Panel System, created by Yankee Barn Homes, is superior to the SIPs panel system. SIP’s, or Structural Insulated Panels, are manufactured composite panels. They are a sandwiched panel with a core of polystyrene or polyurethane foam between two layers or OSB (Oriented Stand Board/ Particle Board), or drywall. Yankee Barn True Roof and True Wall Panels are a trademarked system based on efficiency and ease of construction. True Panels create less on-site job waste. SIPs require cutting to fit and cutting for window, door, and skylight options. True Panels do not.
Yankee Barn Homes’ True Panels are built with pre-installed windows, eliminating waste created by time-consuming on-site cutting for window installation. Further, True Wall Panels are sturdily fastened to 2×6 studs with hardware. SIPs are put together by gluing wood sheathing to rigid foam insulation. Contractors remark the True Wall Panels are easy and fast to install, and make for a superior, energy efficient product. The basic True Wall Panel is six inches thick and has an R value of 26.0, including sheathing.
Yankee Barn Homes’ True Roof panels create a vented “cold roof” system, preventing snow melt from forming dangerous icicles in the winter and providing a buffer from the heat of summer. The roof panels begin with 2×10 or 2×12 conventional framing to meet building code standards. To maintain structural integrity, individual parts of the panel are fastened with nails rather than a chemical bond or adhesive used in SIP’s. We use a rigid foam insulation, which provides the highest attainable R-value per inch of thickness (R-55.3 -66.5). Each panel incorporates two crisscrossing layers of insulation to reduce thermal breaks and heat loss. A full-width roof vent space is built into the panel design to assure a cold roof deck, as required by most shingle manufacturer’s warranties. This air space helps to minimize ice dams and prolong shingle life.
The True Panel System provides the strength and sturdiness for YBH panelized homes. Unlike most of our designs, Block Island House does not employ a post and beam frame. It is a completely panelized contemporary house design. Therefore, structural integrity of the panels is imperative. The house must withstand a coastal environment while providing the homeowner with the exact design and details required. This may prove too much of a challenge for some builders, but not Yankee Barn Homes. We have been in business for 50 years and learned what works and what doesn’t. We can design just about any structure imaginable. “Good design comes from good people, and all problems are solved by good design”. Stephen Gardner
