Worrell Yeung . photos: © Rafael Gamo
Leaving the main house from the dynamic threshold, one proceeds outside along a “trench walk,” an element of the environment co-created with Jeffrey Longhenry of Understory Landscape Architecture. The trench walk is informed by the land art pioneers like Andy Goldsworthy and Michael Heizer. Large stone pavers terrace down the hill, carved into the land and creating a pathway between the main house and Ridge Barn.
The barn nomenclature draws upon the vernacular “bank barns” present throughout the area, in which a structure is embedded into the landscape allowing grade access on two levels, the lower of which can be used for cold storage. Clad in corten panels, the barn is nestled into the hillside and on its lower level accommodates parking, a bike workshop and a wine cellar.
From the upper level, an open breezeway frames an 8×8 view to the Taconic Mountains and allows access to a fitness space to the north side and an open plan bunkhouse for guests to the south. The bunkhouse is its own suite, with smaller scale living, dining, and sleeping spaces, complemented by a lofted sleeping area with custom ladder. Two Worrell Yeung-designed Lambert & Fils light fixtures illuminate this space.
A utilitarian material palette is a hallmark of the barn, itself a corten marvel. Its efficient configuration and elemental, untreated materiality is meant to weather at different rates and be a barometer to the elements of the surrounding site over time.
The lower level of the barn serves, in part, as a de facto pool house for the property, offering a shower, water closet, and changing areas for anyone hoping to swim. Flat stone pavers lead from the lower level of the barn to the pool area. Two sides of the pool appear at grade, with weather wood decking allowing one to walk around and choose an entry point to take a dip. As the landscape slopes down, the other two sides of the pool are revealed, clad in corten and hearkening back to the adjacent barn, appearing as an embedded object within the sloped terrain.
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