The Floating Farmhouse’s semitransparent addition has a roofline that matches the pitch of the original 1820s farmhouse. A porch, tucked under the side eaves, is cantilevered over a stream that runs through the property. Ikea loungers are illuminated from the interior by commercial gymnasium lights repurposed as pendant lamps.
“When you’re working on something inexpensive and then decide you don’t like it, fine. You’re not tearing down millions of kroners worth of work.” —Mette Lyng Hansen
"It only cost about $48,000 to build, which was incredibly cheap," says Turner of the Stealth Barn. "We got the Timber Frame Company to supply the shell, then we clad it and fitted out the interior and windows ourselves. The idea was to take the archetypal black tar-painted agricultural building and make an almost childlike icon of that."
In the farmhouse’s color-drenched living room, ottomans by Matali Crasset for Domodinamica—originally designed for a hotel in Nice, France—are mixed with a white Pipistrello floor lamp by Gae Aulenti for Martinelli. The red table is a vintage find.
Monory’s friends, the Leclercs, join her for an alfresco meal on the patio. They’re seated at a custom-made table on Fermob’s Luxembourg chairs.
Built by a crew of three, the home makes a virtue out of being unfussy and straightforward. The north-facing glass wall under the gable, with a triple-glazed facade, doesn't require shading or insulation. The quick-to-build structure—which consists of just structural insulated panels (SIB) made from OSB panels with a foam core, and a concrete floor that retains heat—doesn't include any complicated systems or require much maintenance.
Four distinct structures make up the house. Their design echoes the shape of an older, gabled-roof building already on site. “We considered the neighboring construction quite interesting in terms of scale and layout,” de Carvalho says. “Due to the proximity, we felt the necessity to integrate it in the design.”
The architect chose granite for the house’s base, zinc for its roof, and Scandinavian pinewood for cladding—all materials that complement the nearby gray stone building.
The main entrance is on the house’s south side. It leads to a central hall from which all sections of the home are accessible.
PROD Architecture + Design created a farmhouse in Penafiel, Portugal to fuse the aesthetic of traditional homes in the region with contemporary, floor-to-ceiling windows that respond to the environment. Made up of four distinct structures, the home takes on the shape of an existing gabled-roof structure on the site. To complement the stone building, the home incorporates a series of muted materials including granite for the base, zinc for the roof, and Scandinavian pinewood for cladding.
Seen from a distance, the farmhouse has a time-honored quality, though it’s still clearly a product of the 21st century.
The second-floor office is housed inside a rounded rectangle of concrete that the architect inserted on top of the old farmhouse.