Modern Farmhouse

Overlooking 300 acres outside Gretna, NE, the project is a modern interpretation of a traditional Nebraska farmhouse.

Clustered with a rustic corn-crib inspired bedroom wing and a rugged metal garage linked by an airy glass breezeway, the long, narrow house forms the broad side of a notional courtyard. The main house itself is an elongated rectangular structure built upon a frame of steel bents arrayed at eight feet on center. Upon this frame, a skin of weathered wood encloses the sides, while a standing seam metal roof caps the top. Paired with a simple gabled profile, the raw nature of the cladding lends an air of timelessness and alludes to the agrarian vernacular of its neighbors. Punctuated by a spiral staircase coiled within a corrugated metal silo and a skeletal steel catwalk that hovers over the living room, then thrusts through a north-facing curtain wall, the house combines bold, modern gestures with comfortable nods toward the rural environment it occupies.

Flanking the north edge of the courtyard is the children’s bedroom wing. Drawing from the language of traditional pole-barns and corn cribs, the bedroom wing is supported by an exoskeleton of thick wood columns. Woven between them are 1” wood slats oriented vertically and regimented in even lines so that small gaps are left between each piece. Just as this technique allowed grain to dry in the agricultural corn cribs, it allows air to flow through the storage and hobby spaces beneath the bedrooms, keeping them naturally cool and light.

Finally, the third side of the courtyard is moored by the garage and veranda. Built on a timber structure and clad in corrugated metal, the five-stall garage pulls inspiration from pragmatic farm outbuildings, but joins them with the amenities of a modern man-cave. At both ends, the structure features large glass garage doors that can be opened to encourage cross ventilation, as well as a perforated sliding barn door that can be closed to provide security without compromising air flow.