Iden Barn Homes

Studios and Outbuildings

We have converted barns for use as studios, additions, and garages. We also construct new reproduction timber frames for these and other special purpose buildings, and welcome projects offering unique challenges such as the straw bale addition featured on this page. Click the links above to see examples of these special projects.

Additions

A mid-1800's frame reproduction was added to this stone house in the late 1990's. In reproducing its authenticity we utilized a floor system of hewn, beaded oak floor joists with the original wide pine board flooring from a dismantled 1850's home. Stairs were built using recycled pine flooring is one of the features keeping this reproduction in the 1850's time frame. (Project by Curtis L. Iden, Judith Iden Partnership)

Carriage House—Studio

An example of a complete restoration of a Carriage House used as guest quarters, but such buildings also serve wonderfully as studio or home office spaces (in this case the main barn serves as a music and performance studio). The carriage house was dismantled leaving only two sound walls intact with new foundation work on the other two walls, which were rebuilt from the original stone.

Photos show some of the work in progress, and one shot shows the untouched back stone wall that was left with a pronounced curvature as the building was found. The fence defining the courtyard is laid up using rare recycled stone with joints tucked deep to give the appearance of a dry laid stone wall.

Garage and Studio

An example of a 1 1/2 story garage with studio space above timber framed in locally milled oak using traditional joining techniques. We receive many requests for studio spaces which can be made from smaller scale antique barn frames, newly timber framed, or by re-purposing a Carriage House or existing outbuilding.

Barn Restoration

Here are several examples of barn restoration projects we have completed.

Quaker Meeting Sheds

Our Quaker Meeting Sheds replicate the garages found next to Pennsylvania’s Quaker Meeting Houses that pre-date 1900. The frames are mortise and tenon white and red Pennsylvania oak from local mills, woods that are native and plentiful, so their use is consistent with Green building practice.

The front roof section of these sheds is supported by long heavy braces from the center posts, unique to the Quaker Meeting House sheds.

These garages add authenticity and beauty to a barn home project, as well as being completely functional. We enjoy building them as much as they are appreciated by their owners.

Straw Bale Construction

We were requested to build this two story addition using Green building techniques and natural materials. The basic structure is timber framed from locally milled oak, and the thick exterior in fill walls are made of straw bales plastered in a period base mix of lime and sand. Interior surfaces are finished with clay plaster, and the flooring fabricated from recycled barn siding.

Use of local materials and resources qualifies your project for LEED points, as well as offering a result that fits the original architecture of a period home with the benefit of energy savings. In our work we are always recycling materials so we typically have little to discard.