Reimagined Barn Raises the Bar in Wyoming
This striking building — with guest quarters, exercise area and garage — has a wall of windows opening to mountain views
In need of a guest house and a place to exercise and work on vintage cars and motorcycles, this couple reached out to an old friend, John Carney, the architect who designed their log cabin home 20 years ago. This time around, the owners wanted a barn.
In the exercise loft, the large windows offer views of a pond, a meadow and the Teton Range.
The roof needed to be robust to handle snow loads and seismic activity. Carney got playful with the black steel tension rods and trusses, which are structural and allow him to skip breaking up the interior with columns. “Everything is for real,” he says. “We didn’t fake anything.”
Two-by-5-foot hemlock boards span the space between the trusses for added rhythm and texture. The floor is reclaimed oak.
The roof needed to be robust to handle snow loads and seismic activity. Carney got playful with the black steel tension rods and trusses, which are structural and allow him to skip breaking up the interior with columns. “Everything is for real,” he says. “We didn’t fake anything.”
Two-by-5-foot hemlock boards span the space between the trusses for added rhythm and texture. The floor is reclaimed oak.
A kitchenette features reclaimed wood cabinets with a concrete countertop.
A sliding barn door next to the kitchenette leads to the guest room and bathroom.
Lights: Hubbardton Forge; fixtures: Waterworks
Lights: Hubbardton Forge; fixtures: Waterworks
In the narrow guest room, a double-hung window brings in light.
Downstairs in the workshop is where one of the homeowners tinkers with dune buggies, bicycles, motorcycles and vintage cars. The checkered ceramic tile floor is heated so the homeowner can stay warm when he’s lying on his back working beneath a car.
This sliding barn door leads to a bathroom and mechanical room.
This sliding barn door leads to a bathroom and mechanical room.
Sliding shutters on rollers on the outside can close off the top floor to help winterize the space if needed.
Barn at a Glance
What happens here: Exercising, hosting guests, working on vehicles
Location: Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Architect: John Carney of Carney Logan Burke Architects
The couple had fallen in love with classic barn architecture in the area and wanted something similar but with modern upgrades. For example, old barns don’t typically have a lot of light streaming in. To fix that, Carney turned what would have been the back of the hayloft into a wall of glass. This floods the top floor exercise area with natural light.
In addition to the exercise area, the top floor contains a kitchenette, guest room and bathroom. On the ground floor is a garage, workshop and another bathroom.
A side bay, with its lower roof, resembles a shed and mimics the look of a barn structure that had been added onto over time. The exterior is reclaimed barn wood.