Long House

Long House draws design influence from the Vermont homestead of the 1800s. This historical configuration is sometimes described as “big house-little house-back house-barn.” These main components were often connected and arranged around an exterior space called a “dooryard.” Additional outbuildings cropped up as needed. Examples of these homesteads still exist throughout Vermont in large numbers today,  

The client's programmatic needs resembled the traditional homestead components; however, due to site conditions including restrictions on three sides by grasslands, woodlands, scrublands, and wetlands, the “big house-little house-back house-barn” components got configured into a long bar that was then bent to follow the contours of the land. The resulting bent form, following a knoll, provides unobstructed views from every primary room in the house, across the field and down the valley. The interior side shelters a modern “dooryard” with the main entry at the hinge point.