Not too long ago, this 1420-sq.-ft. home was a “cobbled together, uninsulated felt paper shack with vinyl siding and trim,” according to Reggie Lebel of Emerald Builders. Today, it is a laudable example of preservation and adaptive reuse. The homeowner, Stephen Peck, commissioned Briburn Architects to redesign an underutilized outbuilding, c. 1950s, that had been used over the decades for various purposes including as a horse barn, farming equipment shed, boat repair shop, and, most recently, general workshop.

Stephen wanted to turn the weatherbeaten, bare-bones structure into a high-performance home. When architect Chris Briley came on board, he faced what he has since described as “a single room with a rickety old staircase connected to a loft by a ‘catwalk’ of sketchy plywood laid on trusses.”

Maintaining the building shape and scale of details were among the design objectives; doing so would satisfy the homeowner’s larger goal to create a home befit for its generations-old, quintessential New England neighborhood in Falmouth, Maine.

As an interior designer and art lover, Stephen also wanted to add some contemporary flair. He had a crystal-clear vision of what he wanted. It was up to Briburn and Emerald Builders to make it materialize.

“Most people would have torn down this old barn to make way for a new structure, but Stephen was enchanted by its features, especially the catwalk and the floor,” Chris recalls. “He wanted to honor the past by keeping such features, honor the present by making a comfortable, modern place for he and his husband to live, and honor the future by turning the drafty old barn into a highly energy-efficient, sustainable building.”

Reworking existing conditions

The scope of the work was colossal. Because the old pier-and-beam foundation was in poor condition, it needed replacing. And the site-built trusses were…