Caan Barn by Stamberg Aferiat + Associates

This 150-year old barn transformed into a house by legendary modernist architect Charles Gwathmey for his own family in 1973 is renovated 2004 by Stamberg Aferiat + Associates. The Caan Barn is located in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States.

In respect for both the history of the original barn and the Gwathmey renovation/addition, we chose to keep the barn and Gwathmey’s intervention as the primary focus from the street. In order to minimize the impact of our addition from the street elevation we designed a long, low wall in front of a portion of the house that took it’s cues from the Gwathmey addition. Rooted in traditional barn vocabulary, our expansion added additional modern twists. The new wing spirals from the original barn using the family room as a fulcrum and cascades down the natural hillside to reveal a 3-story addition in the back. The silo, in turn, functions as a visual terminus to this wing and houses new stairs. Part opaque and part translucent, the silo glows like a warm lantern at night. The gambrel roof of the original barn inspired the new twisted gambrel roof of our addition. The bedroom wing hovers over the landscape with a covered outdoor space beneath.

— Stamberg Aferiat + Associates