Bedford Barn Renovation and Addition
Bedford Barn Renovation and Addition sits in Bedford, NY, United States, where SPG Architects transform a 19th-century outbuilding into a working part of family life. The house-scale conversion respects the barn’s landmark status while adding a compact, glass-lined wing that opens to fields and sky. What was once a utility building now supports gatherings with a deliberate balance of preservation and crisp contemporary work.
Low evening light grazes weathered cedar shakes and new standing-seam metal, catching the roofline where the addition lifts toward the view. A run of operable glass doors slides wide, joining the barn’s tall interior to meadows and the soft rise beyond.
This house-scale conversion stands on a historic property in Bedford, with SPG Architects reworking a 19th-century barn into active family rooms while protecting its landmark character. The throughline is disciplined: preserve the public face and timber frame, stabilize the structure, and append a compact volume that brings daylight and access to the landscape.
Stabilize And Preserve
The original two-story barn was structurally compromised, yet designated significant. Working with the Historic Building Preservation Commission, the team restored the public-facing elevation and stone retaining wall, holding onto massing, materials, and colors within a weatherized envelope that respects the period. The 1,150 SF historic volume stays intact, and its timber frame remains legible from floor to ridge.
Add Light And Access
A modest 400 SF addition meets the old barn with a precise shift in roof slope, then cants upward to clear an uninterrupted wall of glass. That single move brings in generous daylight and lets modern doors stack open to the pastoral site, turning the threshold into the project’s hinge. The metal roof distinguishes the new work from the cedar shake roof of the original.
Program The Volume
Inside, the reimagined barn carries a large seating and media center alongside a 12-person dining area sized for extended family and friends. On the lower level, a billiards room takes advantage of the barn’s depth, giving the plan a quiet retreat beneath the taller gathering hall. Circulation stays simple, and the rooms borrow height and light from the existing frame.
Express The Frame
Original posts and beams are not covered; they read as structure and memory. New tongue-and-groove surfaces run in contrast, sharpening the profile of the old timber and clarifying old versus new in every view. At the former west wall, the timber frame remains intact to mark the barn’s footprint, a deliberate line that records the past within the renewed interior.
Anchor With A Tower
A custom glass and blackened steel wine tower rises as a vertical counterpoint within the soaring room. It draws the eye without crowding the rafters, giving a clear focal moment that aligns with the barn’s scale and the addition’s measured transparency.
Morning lays a bright wash across the glass doors, and the old boards hold their darker grain. The project meets the property’s daily rhythm, moving from quiet to convivial with a slide of the panels and the steady presence of the frame.
Photography courtesy of SPG Architects
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