A New Timber Frame Home With Antique Barn Style

Embracing Midwestern Farm History

Take a look inside of this Nebraska timber frame home, and you'll be sure to be unknowingly carried through a tour of Midwestern farm history. The furniture, fixtures, walls, lighting, and even the HVAC system are creative applications of unlikely building materials, including barn siding, corn planter boxes, pulley systems, irrigation pipes, and window panes. In an impressive display of Midwestern know-how, these treasures have been repurposed in vastly different roles from their original use. They all come together in a texturally rich yet humble barn-style home space anchored by the warm, hardy environment only a natural wood home can provide. The timber frame home's origins began with Brent, who grew up in Nebraska then moved to Seattle where he developed an appreciation for mountain-style timber framing and log homes. While there, he and Jen also cultivated an active outdoor lifestyle. The couple both love biking through challenging terrain, and Brent runs ultras (races that are 50 kilometers or more).

Returning to Roots and Finding the Perfect Plot

As much as the couple enjoyed Washington, they longed to return to their roots, and they had a very specific vision in mind for their home design on the plains. The couple wanted a medium-sized plot of land near trees, which sounds simple enough to come by unless you are in Nebraska. In Nebraska, there are either 3-acre farming pivot corner plots or 100 acres or more. There's not much in between explains Brent. So you can imagine his surprise when a 25-acre parcel near his hometown came up for sale. The property was perfect complete with cedar trees and in proximity to canyons and a canal system. They snatched up the plot and turned to Nebraska-based Legacy Post & Beam to draft the floor plans. Above all, they were determined to remain authentic to the land's history with a true prairie design.

Creating an Antique-Barn Vibe

The couple seemed to be the only ones in the area who wanted to keep the farm look, as there was an abundance of contemporary-style homes that had cropped up in the farming and ranching community surrounding the Moodys' homesite. Now, the monitor-style barn, with a perfect rust patina on its heavy-gauge steel roof and its rough-cut board-and-batten pine siding, instantly recalls days of wagon trains and frontier settlers. The frame is comprised of kiln-dried Douglas fir held together with steel plates and through-bolt joinery. In the case of the Moodys' home, the intention was to create an antique-barn-turned-home vibe through new construction. Brent had a clear vision, and it worked.

Thoughtful Home Design and Layout

The barn-style structure is designed as a pair of lean-to sections flanking the raised-center roofline. The east side is a covered porch with a view, and the west serves as the guest wing with a mudroom, two bedrooms, and a bath. The combined kitchen, living, and dining areas occupy the center section and share a double-sided fireplace with the porch. Perched above the kitchen and dining room is the master suite loft. Heated concrete flooring spans the home's interior, keeping the whole house toasty in cold-weather months.