Additon to Oxbow Farm

Warren County, Virginia

Project Description

The original house on a Virginia farm, a simple two-story, five bay, rectangular block, one room deep, was built around 1830. Since then it has evolved with numerous additions which have more than tripled its original size. Prior to this project the living room had been expanded thereby eliminating the original entry hall.

The challenge was to provide the house with a new entry and a dayroom/study on the second floor. The fact that the house has tripled in size over the past 150 years called for a gesture of a larger scale than the previous single story two columned porch.

This project, a two-story pedimented porch, 360 square feet in all, reclaims the front facade and anchors the long axial approach drive, giving the house an appropriate presence in the surrounding terrain. Its vernacular classical style is in keeping with the simple character of the original farm house.