Out in the barn.

The house that C spent a few years designing, building, and pouring his creativity, time, heart, ambition, and energy into, with two partners, is the Editor's pick for "Home of the Month" in the current issue of Timber Home Living, August 2008.  It is on the newsstand now and a shorter version is online here, or you can click on any of the scans here for a closer look.

Not only did they build it once, they built it twice.  Just as they were getting the roof on, the first one burnt down  just, and the second time, they built it better.  Waaaaay back near the beginning of time, well blogging time anyways, I alluded ever so vaguely to this, unable at the time to bring something so shocking, heartbreaking, and difficult to the blogging front.  It was 4th of July weekend and very hot and dry, but no cause of the fire was ever determined.  Fortunately we were fully insured.  Call it superstition, or call it what you will, I really just don't know why, but I just haven't been able to write about any of this yet until now, now that it's really and truly out there for the world to see.

Although there were three partners, Chris was, and is, on some level or another, involved in nearly every single decision, including but not exclusively, the initial concept, the overall design, the logistics of coordinating the project, the choosing and locating the building materials, all the cabinetry and trimwork, and some of the furnishings. One partner, who is Amish, did the timber framing and the exterior (although it was done with cranes and scaffolding rather than the traditional barn raising way). The other partner was involved with design and the final interior styling.  There were many other local artisans, craftsmen, and landscapers involved in the project as well. 

The pictures here were taken by Living Images Photography: www.livingiphoto.com.  Many, many more less-than-professional pictures that I've taken over the past few years are included in this Flickr set, so feel free to take yourself on a little tour. It's an awesome space to actually be in, in person.  I'm afraid no single picture, professional or not, can capture that feeling perfectly but, between all of the pictures, I think they can give a fair perspective.

I couldn't be more proud.  Seeing it in print is the icing on the cake. 

And, by the way, it's for sale.  : )   (Whoops.  I've fixed the link.  Now it works, but you have to click on "MLS Number" under the searches and type or paste in the number 280619. 

Comments

[Jennifer]

simply and utterly amazing. I'm in complete awe. Kudos to C and his team for such a dreamy home. Best of luck with the sale. (Maybe one of your readers will buy it!)

[Rosa]

Congrats to Chris. That is an amazing accomplishment. I love architecture, and this is a wonderful example. I hope that someone will buy it soon and make a nice home.

[Cirilia]

Really and truly, ineffable beauty. Well done, C!

[Melanie W.]

How Beautiful!!! My eyes got teary. I can only imagine the opprotunity to live in such beauty inside and out. I actually have that metal and black leather funny sling type chair. I guess that is the closest I'll come.
:) Lovely!

[Berlinswhimsy]

Wow Siri, that is absolutely amazing and beautiful. I'd love to see it in real life and I bet it's just amazing to walk through.

And the fire----so surreal. I wasn't reading your blog then but I find it interesting while following your link back to find your near mention of this tragedy through your knitting... So telling in so many ways...

Good luck to your talented husband with this amazing project--- I hope you keep us all posted!

[Ulrike]

This is awesome. This is master craftmanship.
Congratulations to C!

[Katie]

Wow, I think I just found my dream house!

[Lizz]

Amazing!

And the fire, oh my!

I see recognize the stools there.

Thanks for sharing. I of course shared with the wood man here at my house. His breath quickened.

[melody]

Again- I am just blown away by Chris's work... SO gorgeous!

[Elizabeth]

So gorgeous!
I couldn't get into the real estate link and I was curious as to how the house was heated. We live in a timber frame home (much more modest than this!) and after one winter here we are thinking of going with heated floors as the high ceilings make it hard to get the place feeling warm enough.
We have had silly comments when various delivery people, and the chimney sweep came in. They say things like, "Did you put the beams there to make the place look old?" I guess timber frame is not that common around here.

[Ellen]

It's wonderful! I love all the windows - letting in both light and beautiful views. Glad that something good took the place of something awful. It reminds me of the story of the Phoenix and duh! I guess that's why the title of the magazine article is called the Phoenix Barn. (It takes me awhile to catch on...) It's really lovely. Hope it sells quickly!

[rebecca]

awesome! owning/licing in a converted barn has always been my dream. can't wait to pore over these photos a bit more.

[Siri]

These are the real stools, here. We have the knock-offs from Target.
As for the heating, it IS heated with radiant floor heating which keeps a comfortable temperature throughout the house.

[Jennifer]

Wow - it is a beautiful house. I can't imagine having to start over again, but I would say it was worth the effort. I am just curious, do the windows open? I would love those views and the light you would get.

[Mindy Lewis]

This is SO exciting! I feel like I know a CELEBRITY, you know? Hollywood in Montana (oh, Lordy, perish the thought!). But it IS so wonderful for you all; so many years, working so long and so hard and finally noticed. Cheers!

[Barb]

Amazing house! Wonderful details.

[Chris]

Thanks Siri and everyone for the awsome thoughts and words. I appreciate it.