Last Updated on January 29, 2018 by teamobn
Floating Farmhouse – Givone Home
Location: Eldred, New York, USA
Built: 1820
Renovation Completed: 2012
The floating farmhouse is the result of a solo mission by self-taught designer Tom Givone to resuscitate a 19th-century homestead.
He categorizes the farmhouse not as an experiment in greening but as an exercise in responsible building; its low carbon footprint was cast back in the 1820s, when the home was built with local materials, delivered by horse and wagon, and fashioned by hand. Such a sensitive restoration-meets-renovation pays homage to that past, both aesthetically and environmentally.
All the woodwork throughout the home, including the covered porch ceiling, was created from towering pines felled and milled on the property. The original clapboard siding and wavy-glass windows have been fully restored and a pair of centuries-old hand hewn ceiling beams, salvaged from a Pennsylvania dairy barn, anchor the vaulted space.
From the Architect:
Sited at the edge of a pristine creek, with a waterfall cascading over an ancient dam of hand-laid stone, the Floating Farmhouse was a sinking ship when first discovered. After a design and rebuild process spanning four years, the 1820 manor home is now a study in contrasts: fully restored to its period grandeur while featuring purely modernist elements, including a curtain wall of skyscraper glass in the kitchen, polished concrete and steel finishes, minimalist interiors, and a cantilevered porch “floating” on the surface of the water.
P.S. It’s available to rent for a weekend escape!
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