The design of the Barn House on Owasco Lake design was driven by its site condition (steep slope overlooking a deep glacial lake), the resulting glorious views (due west) and a micro-climate (a mini lake-effect with driven rains from northwest), client lifestyle (a professional couple that is considering retirement, empty nesters yet with extended family that visit occasionally), an appreciation for a minimal environmental impact, and a limited budget.
The design scheme is based on a typical local agrarian barn that uses the ground slope to access two levels separately, thus allowing for maximum separation of functions (in case of barn: animals and storage – and in this case: owners and their guests), making the house simultaneously very small and very spacious. The sectional split enabled effective insulation of the two levels of the house from from each other so that only the area actually inhabited by the two clients could be heated or cooled; when the extended family and grandchildren arrive, both levels can connect again.
Owner: Teresa McHugh & Michael Bevis
Location: Auburn, NY
Completed: Summer 2024
Design Award Year: 2024-’25
Award Category: Residential Single Family Detached
Project Type: New Build
Award Level: Merit
AIA SNY COTE Medal: Bronze
Project Link: Barn House on Owasco Lake
Given the steep ground slope, the site access was an important consideration, as well as the ground disturbance. The house is perched on concrete piers just west of a relatively flat zone, parallel to the lake and the ground slope, that has become the inner courtyard. The “basement” instead is the garage/workshop to the east across the yard, forming a carport and supporting the second level perpendicular to the slope. On the east-most end of the upper level, a prefabricated aluminum gangway connects to the driveway, creating an accessible path to the upper level.
Constructed from off-the-shelf components, like many agrarian structures in the Finger Lakes, the Barn House also learned from the vernacular tradition of other regions. The corner detail of the corrugated metal siding was borrowed from Iceland, where corrugated siding is omnipresent (as local legend has, it came from mainland Europe in the form of ship ballast and was adopted in lieu of wood, which is scarce in Iceland). The siding sheet is simply bent around the corner, eliminating fussy, costly, and often ungraceful detailing.
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