Bespoke and Special Commissions
Your inquiries are welcome.
Please send your emails to Michael@coffindafferstudio.com to get the ball rolling…
2006
Greene Lodge Beach House/ Barn board wall treatment
The concept…
Maybe I’m wrong, but I bet about every designers first real bespoke object or “special commission” had to do with something they created for themselves… at least that’s definitely true in my case. Our beach house on Fire Island, NY started out as a renovation project that ultimately became essentially a new house altogether. Probably not surprising but what a project! The new house would be called Greene Lodge and the general idea was to maintain the very “lodge like” feel of the original space, expand the square footage with a second story and update the whole thing to a more contemporary, light filled loft environment. It was an intriguing combination of ideas that proved irresistible! Anyway, we decided early on that one of the new highlights would be a “statement” wall that spanned the main floor open living room and mezzanine levels. And I had just the treatment in mind.
The inspiration and original barn…
I grew up in the rural West Virginia countryside where original barn structures dot the landscape, many of them built during the early and mid 1800’s. My granddad remembered one of these glorious barns that stood on my parent’s property, even as a small child himself! Unfortunately the structure was in such disrepair that my father decided it needed to come down several years ago. Fortunately for me, he procrastinated in the task which turned into an opportunity… these incredible weathered oak barn boards would be destined to become the centerpiece attraction at Greene Lodge.
A date was set. My dad and I took the barn apart board by board and we purposely left the layered scrap boards on top in their original places… being a simple country barn, these thrifty builders would tack on any scrap board they had on hand to cover open cracks or splits in the siding. After all, you didn’t want the rain or snow to spoil the hay and the finished result needed to be efficient, not attractive.
A new home…
Once the boards were on site at the beach, we decided to place them horizontally and laid out many configurations until the overall effect was just right. Only then were these gorgeous antique barn boards installed in their new home with their undiluted history, scrap board patches, weathered textures and “warts and all” integrity in place. And you can bet I personally oversaw that installation to the end!
With its vibrant new life, the wall brings us great joy and a sense of place in unexpected ways. Plus the finished result delights visitors with its bold statement and very personal history.
After all, isn’t that what Bespoke should be?
