Renovated antique barn boasts bevy of design awards

East facade; Main level family room; View of exterior; Main level family room. VAN SARKI PHOTOS

By JOYCE CORRIGAN

There’s a moment in the HBO documentary, “Very Ralph,” when designer Ralph Lauren recalls his mother questioning his decision to buy a historic estate in Bedford in the late 1980s. He already owned an elegant Fifth Avenue penthouse in Manhattan, a sprawling ranch in Colorado, and he had recently restored the Rhinelander, an opulent French Renaissance Revival mansion on Madison Avenue, as his New York flagship store. 

“What do you need that for?” she asked about the pending purchase. “I don’t really need it,” he explained. “I got it because I wanted that little barn.” The much-photographed Westchester estate — with its 1920s Norman-style manor house and weathered agricultural structures — epitomizes the RL brand of well-bred American country life.

It was not the first nor the last time renowned design gurus would fall hard for the charms of an old Bedford barn.

In the past 18 months, a 19th century barn on an elegant 18th-century estate off Middle Patent Road, renovated and reimagined in 2024, has won five architecture awards, including the prestigious American Institute of Architects Citation Award in Historic Restoration, Adaptive Reuse Category.

“It’s a little unusual for a barn to get this kind of attention,” admitted architect Eric Gartner, chief designer of the project, who led a team of five from the Manhattan-based firm SPG Architects. “Of course we’ve been thrilled. I think it captured people’s imagination because, while the addition is unabashedly modern, the design is completely sympathetic to the original structure and never tries to overpower it. We preserved as many historical elements as we could.”

The original 19th century barn had fallen into disuse, serving mostly as storage for the 18th century farmhouse, which SPG had also restored. The new owners — who were not farmers — envisioned the barn as a lively gathering and recreation space, adding a modest 400-square-foot extension.

“It now offers an option as the family’s entertaining destination,” Gartner said. “There’s a spacious dining room for family reunions or holiday parties, a media room, a black steel-and-glass wine cellar and a billiards room downstairs.”

“The original barn definitely needed some love,” he said. “There was quite a bit of deterioration. I wasn’t interested in replicating it to look like a Disney building, but I also wasn’t going to tear down something that could be salvaged and made to last. The original hand-hewn beams — there’s no way you can improve upon them. So we kept them, just waxing and sealing them, making them a focal point.”

While diehard historic house traditionalists sometimes accuse Modernist architecture of being cold, Gartner counters this with his signature use of warm, local, and natural materials. Inside, eastern white pine floors and walls, sourced regionally, create an inviting environment, all finished with eco-friendly, zero-VOC materials.

The renovation celebrates the barn’s original footprint with subtle structural updates — steel rod cross-ties for stability, restored cedar shake roofing, and carefully integrated modern systems — allowing the historic volume to shine while the new addition introduces light and functionality. The result is a beautifully balanced hybrid, preserving character while giving the barn a sustainable new purpose. 

Other acclaimed SPG renovations include an 1836 Greek Revival townhouse in Manhattan’s West Village, which the architects transformed into a move-in ready townhome, with a rooftop addition that seamlessly maximized the home’s 5,300-square-foot. In Palm Springs, Calif., the firm refashioned a 1942 Mission-style home in Old Las Palmas — raising ceilings, lowering floors, and eliminating steps to improve flow, while expanding rear glass openings to capture rugged mountain views.

“Americans are grounded in its farming heritage, so barns really resonate with most everyone,” added Gartner, a New England native. “And since the American dream is inspired by the land, why not see as much of it as possible? We chose the swooping roof form because it echoed the slope of the original barn, curving it upward so that this side opens to the landscape.” 

He notes a practical reason why so many homeowners convert barns into living space: “The volume of the interiors and those high ceilings, sometimes 30 feet, is exhilarating.” 

It is no surprise that barns are often called America’s “vernacular cathedrals.”

The signature red color also has a story. In the 18th and 19th centuries, without modern paints, farmers made their own using milk, lime and iron oxide — essentially rust. Iron oxide was abundant and inexpensive, producing the distinctive red hue while protecting the wood with mild fungicidal properties. 

“Our barn’s original red had faded considerably by the time we arrived. We matched it as closely as we could,” said Gartner. After thoughtful consideration, they went with Benjamin Moore Heritage Red.

“Old barns are as synonymous with Bedford as natural stone walls, dirt roads, and wide-open spaces,” said John Stockbridge, the town historian for the past 24 years. “They are a link to the community’s origins, when the earliest settlers sought fertile land to establish farms, homes, and eventually towns. A genuine agrarian connection that’s picturesque and well-preserved is why people still move here.”

An added incentive, perhaps, is that New York state supports barn preservation, offering a 25% tax credit to homeowners who maintain or renovate antique barns (those built before 1946), provided the work preserves their historic character.

“Bedford is fortunate to have residents who, over generations, have created and continue to support numerous organizations dedicated to preserving our historic character,” Stockbridge said. “To name a few — the Bedford Historical Society, the John Jay Homestead, Bedford Riding Lanes, the Westchester Land Trust, and several nature conservancies — all working toward preservation in their own way.”