Our client purchased 19 acres of land in Southern Wisconsin with the goal of spending their time surrounded by the native prairie that they themselves had rehabilitated. The couple wanted a single-story home that would not dominate the restored prairie, but rather enable the interior experience to be an extension of it. This modern farmhouse extends into the natural prairie landscape, providing a humanistic experience in natural light underneath the vaulted ceilings. The interior experience mirrors the feeling of the exterior.
You know the outside is the most important art. So when you look through a window, that's what I see. I had some really great pieces of art but it's really the outside and the nature. That's why you're here.”
We envisioned this project as a new modern farmhouse, a building typology centered around the outdoors. Three gabled shapes, reminiscent of vernacular farm buildings, are nestled on top of the rolling prairie where each volume contains one of the primary living spaces.
Custom milled 24"-26" Alaskan yellow cedar shingles that reinforce the scale of the project.
Black standing seam metal siding wraps each volume.
The volumes are stepped away from each other to allow for a view up and down the prairie as well as increased privacy. This arrangement also serves as a passive cooling strategy that minimizes exposure to the hot summer sun. A limited palette on the interior unifies the residence through long-lasting materials that reference the local vernacular.
The minimal interior uses wide-plank maple floors and white walls with custom white oak millwork placed in key locations. This uncluttered aesthetic serves as the infrastructure for peaceful living. Prairie views and the client's collection of artwork remain the focal points of the project as the design of the home serves as its podium. Black standing seam metal wraps around the exterior of each volume leaving the gabled ends Alaskan yellow cedar shingles that will slowly weather to a deep silver. Corten steel canopies and window surrounds also weather to a warm dark red. We developed a series of architectural details that will slowly transform and connect to the prairie as it also ages and grows.
The central volume serves as the main living area, a place that uses the outdoors as its backdrop. The kitchen and living area anchor the edges of the space that encapsulate the rest of the uses. Moving through the house, light and space blend each room into one that use intentionally placed elements to create a visual separation. The large kitchen island provides a distinction between the living and kitchen spaces while the stair uses a maple louvered railing to allow light to permeate through it, connecting the main level to the basement courtyard carved into the site.
Connecting the three volumes with a flat roof in between not only breaks the house into its major functions but it also provides relief so it doesn't dominate the landscape around it. Each of these gabled shapes are at a comfortable human scale. Approaching them offers the landscape to seemingly flow through them, further solidifying the idea that this home is a piece of its site. The project also contains a barn that houses beehives where the client produces their own honey. This isn't just a home for the client, its their new way of life.
Flat roof connections between the gable roof volumes allow the interiors to flow into each other.
We have developed a project that weaves together humans, nature, and their built environment, relying on materials to accept the life around them to evolve with its context. An integration of space, light, and experience builds a life for who you want to be and how you want to live.
