Old Westport Farm is a 175-acre Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) farm located along a river feeding directly into the Atlantic Ocean. We designed a compact property core, including Main House, Greenhouse, Guest House, Wine Shed and Gardens, within the APR restricted footprint for new construction.
In addition to the collection of structures comprising the Main House core, we consulted on the restoration and reconstruction of the site and of several houses, barns and outbuildings, on this extraordinary property.
OWF Main House
The Main House complex of a house, guest house, greenhouse, garden crib, wine shed and courtyard is a celebration of the environment, the owner’s skill and passion for growing orchids and making wine, and of this stunning site. A courtyard creates an architectural element that organizes the ensemble of buildings, while buffering the greenhouse, gardens and inhabitants from powerful coastal Atlantic storms. The buildings are arrayed around solar south, and adhere to our principals of orientation, ventilation and insulation to maximize energy efficiencies and harness the resources of the sun. The Main House has a sweeping curved ceiling that captures and celebrates the ocean experience.
Deep overhangs, interior stone Trombe walls, cement fiber cladding, rain screens, rigid insulation wrapping the interior of the structure, spray insulations, radiant heat, underground cisterns, and tertiary sewage treatment systems, are a sampling of the sustainable initiatives incorporated into the house, ancillary buildings, and the site.
Horse Barn
The Horse Barn is the main stable on the property, and contains some of the best and most preserved historic fabric. Parts of this building are over two hundred years old, and show signs of having been reclaimed. We restored the framing integrity by repairing and/or rebuilding the structure from the sill to the wood roof shingles. We used a local resource of field-dried timbers and reclaimed wood planks from OWF buildings to ensure vernacular continuity, historic integrity, and another century of production.
Wine Shed
The affectionately termed Wine Shed emerged from a “garage” which surely had been a barn back in the nineteenth century. We uncovered the timber frame, and salvaged most of the timbers. We gave the structure a solid foundation and wrapped the exterior with rigid insulation, which allowed the timber frame to be exposed on the interior, hence, restoring this outbuilding to a functioning accessory structure. With reclaimed stained glass panels designed by the owners, and a mahogany Tuscan entrance door, this Wine Shed represents a fun and functional outbuilding within the fabric of this revived farm.
Corn Crib
Ancillary buildings were transformed into follies with their celebrated forms and adopted new functions.