Simple & Serene Farmhouse

This custom modern farmhouse, located about an hour away from Washington, D.C., is oriented on a site that overlooks the rolling hills and ever-changing landscape of the Virginia countryside. The 4,700-square-foot home gracefully balances a modern sensibility with refined rustic elements. Visually, the home is composed of three buildings designed to resemble an historic farm complex, and it is as sprawling as the views themselves.

“We spent a lot of time finalizing the orientation of the building and lining it up to take advantage of the views from the back of the house, out,” explains Ian Kelly, project director at Blackburn Architects. “I’m glad we spent the extra time to tweak the way in which everything is oriented, because these views are just magnificent.”

Inviting those views in to create transparency between the indoor and outdoor spaces was paramount to the project’s success. The goal was accomplished with a vast number of clean-lined windows throughout the space. “The living, kitchen, dining, and office areas are all open and interconnected as if it were reusing an old barn structure,” says Kelly. “Because of the volume that presents, you have a lot of opportunity to bring light into the space.”

simple and serene cowgirl magazine — The guest bedroom, with its soft textiles and muted tones, offers a peaceful, quiet place for friends to stay. Window shades by Hartmann & Forbes. Lamp by Visual Comfort. Bed by Bernhardt.

Natural light cascades through the clerestory windows in the upper level of the main building, while in the living area, windows stretch to the floor, contributing to the home’s translucence. Between the living room and the bluestone back patio, a giant expanse of glass peels back, stacking and folding out of sight to create a 13-foot-wide, uninterrupted opening. On the patio, retractable screens can be deployed, comfortably extending the living room into the exterior space—especially beneficial when the owners entertain, as they often do.

The stunning chef’s kitchen features a gorgeous navy blue, brass-knobbed Lacanche range that is as fabulous as it is functional. The glass tile backsplash has a painted back, giving it an attractive opaqueness, and putting a contemporary twist on a traditional element. “That was our approach to the whole house—to take the typical and put a little bit of a modern spin on it,” states Marlene Dennis, interior designer. A huge walk-in pantry sits behind the cabinets, upholding minimalism in the main space while adding to the kitchen’s efficiency. The blue-gray cabinets work well with the fieldstone-wrapped wall, into which the refrigerator and a pull-out pantry cupboard are tucked.

The use of natural materials and textures throughout the peaceful home balances the contemporary and rustic elements. The Douglas fir timber beams were bleached to create a more modern look and to help them fit within the serene color palette. The stone accent wall starts in the long corridor that runs the length of the house, wraps around the powder room, and extends into the kitchen. The shiny flooring in the corridor—oversized porcelain tiles that look like polished concrete—stand in contrast to the quarter-sawn white oak floors that create cohesiveness throughout the rest of the home.

Hardie board and board-and-batten siding on the exterior—affixed in a mix of horizontal and vertical placement to distinguish the three separate structures and give the impression that this new farmhouse was actually a complex constructed over a long period of time—is painted white and accented by the sleek black windows and standing seam metal roof. The achromatic color scheme is carried into the home, creating congruency and adding to the sense of calm. “The cohesiveness of the interior spaces lends itself to a peaceful respite in an otherwise crazy world,” notes Dennis.