Reader Spotlight: A New York Hybrid Home Is One Couple's Dream "Basecamp"

Compiled by Griffin Suber

Photos courtesy of Stefanie Barnes

Stefanie Barnes, an attorney from upstate New York, and her husband, a police sergeant and former paratrooper, bought a small house on one acre of land shortly before they got married. Knowing they wanted to build, they upgraded to a much larger plot not even a quarter mile down the road.

SB: We bought it: 85 acres, probably 60 percent woods, 40 percent field. We started working on the property right away, planting 200 evergreens and putting in a pond, but it took us three years to design the house, itself.

We had been getting Timber Home Living for 13 years, and we just loved the timber frame look. We live in Farmington, which is also the headquarters of New Energy Works, so we went there to meet with people to start getting ideas.

Our home is a timber hybrid. There’s lots of timber accents, but it’s stick built. We had reclaimed-wood siding shipped from Trestlewood in Montana. It took us a long time to do it, almost a year to build, but we had great builders. We’re starting our fifth year here. We just completed a barn that mimics the house. It has the same accents but is set back in the woods – it looks like it’s been there for years.

We call our house “Basecamp.” My husband was a paratrooper and they were always having to go to basecamp somewhere, so that’s where the name began. Also, a few years ago, he raced the Baja 1000 in Mexico so he built a Baja Bug racecar. The name of the car was “Basecamp.” We also built a sign, so when you drive down the gravel driveway, there’s this massive sign that says, “Basecamp.” It’s a grand entrance.

See also: This Hybrid Home in Maryland Is a Natural Beauty