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Collection by William Harrison

These Farmhouses Start Fresh as Modern Homes

These excitingly varied homes give an idea of what is possible when vernacular design dovetails with modern reinvention.

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Locally sourced Italian slate covers the ground floor rooms; the coat rack near the entrance is from Zanotta.
Locally sourced Italian slate covers the ground floor rooms; the coat rack near the entrance is from Zanotta.
Tom Givone’s clients, Rose and Steve Smith, teach overseas and have owned their house for 26 years. They intended to fix it up slowly and retire there. As one problem led to another, they reached a point when they felt their only option, as Rose put it, was to “burn it down.”
Tom Givone’s clients, Rose and Steve Smith, teach overseas and have owned their house for 26 years. They intended to fix it up slowly and retire there. As one problem led to another, they reached a point when they felt their only option, as Rose put it, was to “burn it down.”
An envelope of Cor-Ten steel clads the structure’s timber frame. “We drew on and referenced the use of corrugated steel sheet in 20th-century agricultural buildings and the way rusted steel fits into the existing range of materials in this area,” Whittaker explains. It was difficult to find a supplier in the UK, though, as Cor-Ten is much harder than typical steel and manufacturers can be wary of producing it. In the end, the team was able to procure it locally from Hollywood Design in London.
An envelope of Cor-Ten steel clads the structure’s timber frame. “We drew on and referenced the use of corrugated steel sheet in 20th-century agricultural buildings and the way rusted steel fits into the existing range of materials in this area,” Whittaker explains. It was difficult to find a supplier in the UK, though, as Cor-Ten is much harder than typical steel and manufacturers can be wary of producing it. In the end, the team was able to procure it locally from Hollywood Design in London.
Although the old window and door openings of the original building remain visible from the exterior, they were covered on the inside with veneer. Instead, large windows on the roof and a clear glass door supply the interior with adequate daylight.
Although the old window and door openings of the original building remain visible from the exterior, they were covered on the inside with veneer. Instead, large windows on the roof and a clear glass door supply the interior with adequate daylight.