When a favorite builder came to me and asked if we could help him design a house for himself and his family, I immediately said yes. We are like minded spirits; intensely interested in the smallest details, and suffering from the same malady, too many good ideas! And thus began the task of separating the gold from the sand. The modest house was to be set on an upland clearing overlooking a wooded lot in a neighborhood of home grown ranch-ettes. Together we decided that this latest addition to the neighborhood collection would stay true to the practical sensibilities that are so enduringly handsome in vernacular farm construction. The main materials are simple but classic farm; softly stained board and batten siding, metal roofing and fieldstone. The fieldstones, traditionally removed from the tilled fields become the anchor of permanence for the home, confirming the homes connection to the land. A low snakelike wall winds its way along the semicircular driveway edge, growing in height and mass, until it enters the house at 10 high and 20 in length. The owners are both thoughtful and creative, and I expect that they will continue to infuse the ranch with their own personal artistic flair.
Footnote: As move-in neared, to my equal parts pleasure and dismay, the neighbor, (whose (8 diameter) satellite dish we so carefully and strategically hid behind an outbuilding), removed his dish. Proving even a modest ranch house has the power to inspire!