A Modern Vermont Farmstead on Lake Champlain

The protected and welcoming front porch is a signature element of the New England farmhouse.

Initially designed as a seasonal porch, during the building process the solarium evolved into a year-round room. “It’s a transparent little glass house, while the rest of the house feels sheltered,” says Kelsey Layman, senior interior designer at TruexCullins.

The main house, clad in locally milled cedar clapboard, is a long rectangle ending in an ell that houses the garage and apartment above. To the right is a separate carriage-house-style garage.

A tongue-in-groove white-oak ceiling in the entry hall continues a design through line that begins on the porch ceiling and is found elsewhere in the house.

The white-oak ceiling adds warmth to the solarium, which Newschool Builders’ Patrick McHugh describes as “the most beautiful room in the house.” The furnishings are simple and light, keeping the emphasis on the view.

The kitchen has a calming clean white palette. Double islands allow for plenty of room to work and congregate.

The fireplace in the primary bedroom is finished with wood paneling rather than stone. “It felt warmer,” says Layman, “and was a blend of the couple’s competing preference for modern and traditional decor.” The artwork above the fireplace is by Julia Purinton, while the art on the right is by Jim Westphalen.

“The design for the guesthouse is a little more abstract,” says architect Rolf Kielman. “It is simple in its geometry.” The side facing the lake has an open porch. Inside are two bedrooms and an open-plan kitchen and living room.

A fireplace lined with granite veneer separates the outdoor spa from the patio.

The putting green was a priority for the homeowner, an avid golfer

A Modern Interpretation of the Classic New England Farmstead

The classic New England farmhouse is so—New England. A stereotypical observation? Perhaps, but one that highlights the positive. Consider the form’s admirable straightforward design that favors purpose over pomp. The model is all ninety-degree angles, free of curves and bows, making for ease of construction. Angled gabled roofs keep the snow from piling up, and covered porches offer shelter from the sun on hot summer days. It is a simple approach that yields an agreeably handsome product.

That and the evolution of the farmstead’s extended footprint, as detailed in Thomas C. Hubka’s Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England, served as inspiration for this house on the Vermont shore of Lake Champlain. The owners, a married couple with three young children, are longtime Vermonters, says Rolf Kielman, architect and principal at TruexCullins. “We and they have a great affection for New England buildings,” says Kielman. With that in mind, the architect gave his clients a copy of Hubka’s book, first published in 1984, and still considered the seminal reference on the topic. “It made an impression.”

Designing a Lake Champlain Family Compound

The idea of a sprawling farmstead with, in this case, two buildings that are separate but connected, suited the clients’ program. “They were thinking long-term,” says Kielman, noting they wanted a large family home where they could live year-round and have room to accommodate visiting friends and family—from kids to grandparents—with recreation and entertaining in mind.

At 11,893 square feet, the central structure is a modern take on Hubka’s nineteenth-century farmhouse with an L-shaped footprint that supports a main house linked to a garage with a two-bedroom apartment above. “This extended building is philosophically, perhaps poetically, the kind of house we intended,” says Kielman.

A barn, guest cottage, and carriage-house-style garage complete the complex that sits comfortably on the remarkable thirty-plus-acre parcel that includes 200 feet of shoreline. “This site is one of the most beautiful places I have been to,” says Kielman, himself a longtime Vermont resident who appreciates the north country’s natural amenities.

Sustainable Site Planning and Complex Construction

An existing house and outbuildings were demolished, but the lawn rolling down to the lake remained. “We did not have to do extensive clearing,” says Edward “Ted” Adams of Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture.

The house is sited atop a knoll taking advantage of the topography and views of land, lake, and mountains. “The landscape is very vernacular in the New England tradition,” says H. Keith Wagner, principal at Wagner Hodgson, of the native plantings and granite walls that “extend the geometry of the architecture into the landscape in a classic way.”

“It was a challenging project for its size and complexity, especially regarding the coordination of utilities,” says Blake Hackerson, principal at Newschool Builders. The state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling system alone required the drilling of nine wells. “It’s a large building, and the architects and owners were conscientious of the envelope not only for heat and cooling efficiency but for sound.”

Idyllic as it all seems in its completion, it was a three-year-long team effort, says Patrick McHugh, project manager with Newschool. “You can invest time and resources, but without fail, changes happen,” he says. “This project is a testament to having a plan and building relationships and having clients who were flexible and understanding. A tip of the hat to all.”

Project Team
Architecture and interior design: Truex Cullins
Builder: Newschool Builders
Landscape design: Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture