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 because of his delicate two-part design: 1) Restore the unique exterior, proper right down to the rusted corrugated steel cladding. 2) Rebuild the within solely into a contemporary and comfortable, albeit super-compact, weekend retreat.
The farm—corn and beans are its foremost crops—has been in his spouse Mary Anne’s household since 1961. Through the COVID pandemic, their son took to tenting together with his buddies 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 greater than it’s,” he says, because of a sleep loft and the addition of two porches, one within the entrance, the opposite within the again. “My favourite half is the way in which it connects us to nature. We have been there for 3 days not too long ago, and it was pouring rain and too moist to be open air. However you can hear the rain on the roof and porches, and you can completely benefit from the views and watch the climate.”
Under, he walks us by way of his design choices.
Pictures by Kelly Callewaert, courtesy of BNIM.
