Filed under: Design, News, Home Improvement
By David ColmanIt was a farm and a dairy, to be precise, on Martha's Vineyard. Having vacationed on the island for several summers, the family knew they liked it there. "And we're really interested in food and where it comes from," Molly says. "So we thought we'd buy a farm and make cheese, and 'The Sound of Music' would play in the background. We had no idea what we were getting into."
Raising livestock and overseeing a dairy takes enormous effort, and the couple added to their work by making the Grey Barn and Farm, as they named the homestead, certified organic. Their cattle are 100 percent grass-fed, and their heritage-breed pigs and several varieties of chickens forage in the property's fields and woods for food. (The pigs also eat the whey that's left over after cheese is made.) The Glasgows sell their products, including raw milk, cheese, eggs, beef and pork, from an on-site farm stand that's open daily.
Before they could get the dairy up and running-it hadn't been active since 1961-serious upgrades were needed. Only one of the structures, the largest barn, was serviceable, and it had to be overhauled to accommodate the affinage caves for the cheese. It was also equipped with solar paneling, as were other outbuildings (including the one housing the milking parlor and creamery), most of which were designed by the Glasgows' architect, Massachusetts-based Mark Hutker.
Likewise, the old wood residence on the property wasn't suitable for the family of four, so Hutker was tasked with conceiving living quarters as well. "We had this fantasy of a modern Belgian farmhouse," Molly explains. "I just love that rustic European look-the colors, the weather, the sense of design. That was the real inspiration."
Hutker proposed a long, low dwelling that would mirror the contours of some of the new buildings. As a result, the home's profile resembles an old barn retrofitted as a residence. The great steel-and-glass entrance appears wide enough to drive a tractor through, and at the south end, a vast picture window looks like a passageway for the Glasgows' herd of 30 Dutch Belted cows.
"I was steadfast about wanting the house to have a structural timber frame-not a fake one," says Molly, who studied sculpture at Pratt Institute in New York City. "We built it using old timbers from a barn in North Carolina." Hutker employed as many salvaged and locally sourced components as possible, like the reclaimed-wood floors, and the ceilings and pantry counters fashioned from trees on the farm. "They are materials that will wear in a very traditional and time-honored way," the architect says.
Also see: Gisele Bundchen's Tips for an Eco-Friendly Home