There's a short, winding road off the main street in Rowayton, Connecticut, that leads to Barbara Garfield's home. Along Jo's Barn Way, as the road is known, you'll find a small compound of new and old buildings that Barbara — Jo to her family — has restored, designed and built, or moved to the site.

Among them is the home she designed and built for herself. It looks like an old New England barn that has been remodeled into a house.

The decision to build a barn-style house was an emotional one: "I've always wanted to live in a barn, because my happiest childhood memories are of my uncles' barns in western New York, where I spent summers," explains Barbara. "I was an orphan child, and so when I was little, my relatives would put me on a train in Chicago, and an aunt would meet me near Buffalo, and I would spend the summer going from family farm to family farm. When I had this extra land, and I didn't want it to look like suburbia, I thought I would build a building that looked like it might once have been the barn to the old house already on the land.

Barbara has always had an interest in restoring houses. When the last of her four children had grown and moved out, she found herself free to do as she pleased, and what Barbara pleased to do was turn her hobby into a full-time pursuit — her own design business in Rowayton.

The process, and an urge to simplify her life, has led her to smaller and smaller but more efficient houses. In fact, her little barn house is just 1,200 square feet divided among three floors.

Inside and out, it is a model of efficiency, not just in the layout and the choice of materials but also in the way it utilizes its entire volume. The house has a footprint of a scant 871 feet, so it was critical to use height and light to make the spaces feel bigger.

To do this, Barbara varied the ceiling heights, placed the windows with care, and used glass creatively inside the house to visually extend space. For example, glass encloses the stairs and balconies, making them all but disappear. Even more surprising is the glass floor of the small third-story loft, which allows light from the skylights to fill the house.

The post-and-beam structure was designed with the help of architect David Howard for just one person: Barbara. All of the rooms she needs, including the master bedroom, are arranged on the first floor. The second floor includes a study, a guest room, and a bunk room for her grandchildren. The third-level loft is a play space for the kids.

To fit everything into the relatively small first floor without feeling cramped, Barbara designed the public spaces as one open, flowing L-shaped room, with functions delineated by heavy 18th-century barn beams. Double-height windows that reach down to the floor extend the views at both ends of the "L," and skylights in the 29-foot-high ceilings extend the view over both the living and the dining areas.

What Barbara does best is combine old and new materials and traditional and contemporary styles in a smooth, harmonious way, bringing out the best qualities of both. She spent an entire summer searching five states to find the old chestnut beams that support the interior structure of the house, but then she set off the beams by painting the interiors a crisp and very contemporary white.

For the master bedroom and bath, she chose concrete floors — but with a twist. She had the stonemasons score the concrete by hand in 18-inch squares. The idea of crooked lines upset the masons until they saw the finished product, which is reminiscent of a French country stone floor, but with built-in radiant heat. She also used concrete for the kitchen counters.

In setting priorities, Barbara chose to focus her funds on excellent materials for the structure itself.

What furniture is in the house is all Barbara's from previous houses, but edited down to the things she loves. She chose pieces on a "need" basis: "If you don't need, don't do." For example, she doesn't need bedside tables, so she doesn't have bedside tables; she uses built-in shelving instead.

The scheme is generally white, antiques, and a scattering of patterns on pillows. Enlivening the walls are black, white, and gray paintings by Barbara's son Peter. Precious works by grandchildren are displayed on built-in shelves in the master bedroom.

While a barn house isn't for everyone, this one is a model of design and efficiency. That's Jo's way.

Credits

Text: Eliot Nusbaum

Designer: Barbara Garfield Designs Inc.

Architects: Barbara Garfield and David Howard

Regional Editor: Bonnie Maharam