Middleton-Waln Barn
Watermill, New York

A barn conversion using simple forms and straightforward materials, this late-eighteenth-century structure was recued from North Crosswicks, New Jersey, and eventually reerected in Haymarket on Long Island's South Fork.

The Middleton-Waln Barn is a good example of English framing details common in Southern New York and New Jersey in the eighteenth century.

Although the interior is restored to its original form, the exterior has been configured to reflect local Long Island features. Consequently, the old frame is sheathed with vertical pine boards inside, but outside, beyond a layer of rigid insulation, cedar shingles represent the traditional materials of the adopted site.

Economy dictated some aspects of project use contemporary materials, such as the asphalt roof and new wood sheathing, but the threshing bay area, center today of extensive weekend entertaining, is endowed with well-trod, timeworn, white oak floorboards.

A noteworthy aspect of this project was the integration of separate, private sleeping quarters without interrupting the great central space of the original structure, a major consideration in the conversion of barns into residential use.