Architect Steve McDowell’s reimagining of a rundown hay barn in Overbrook, Kansas, is among the many most hanging examples of a repurposed outbuilding we’ve ever seen—and that’s largely resulting from his delicate two-part design: 1) Restore the unique exterior, proper right down to the rusted corrugated steel cladding. 2) Rebuild the within fully into a contemporary and comfortable, albeit super-compact, weekend retreat.
The farm—corn and beans are its major crops—has been in his spouse Mary Anne’s household since 1961. Throughout the COVID pandemic, their son took to tenting along with his associates on the property, simply an hour and a half from Kansas Metropolis, the place the household resides. Impressed by his escapes, the couple determined to revive the barn—”the one remaining vertical construction on the farm,” says Steve—and switch it into their little home on the prairie.
With a footprint that is available in at simply 480 sq. ft, the house “operates a lot larger than it’s,” he says, due to a sleep loft and the addition of two porches, one within the entrance, the opposite within the again. “My favourite half is the best way it connects us to nature. We had been there for 3 days lately, and it was pouring rain and too moist to be outside. However you might hear the rain on the roof and porches, and you might completely benefit from the views and watch the climate.”
Beneath, he walks us by his design choices.
Images by Kelly Callewaert, courtesy of BNIM.
