PatchWorked Rural Retreat for Work, Play, and Family Life
PatchWorked sits on a family farmstead in Nixa, MO, United States, by Dake Wells Architecture, recasting familiar outbuildings as a compact house-scale outpost for daily life. The project folds a detached garage and office into one elongated volume, giving these soon-to-be empty nesters a clear divide between work and home while staying rooted among older barns and open fields. Inside and out, the building tracks the rhythms of remote work, chores, and quiet evenings outdoors.
A gravel drive cuts across the farmyard toward a sharp red gable tucked between weathered barns and tall trees. Under the corrugated metal roof, a deep porch gathers shade while wide glass doors open toward lawn, paddock, and sky in one steady sweep.
PatchWorked is a house-adjacent outbuilding in Nixa, Missouri, where Dake Wells Architecture reshapes a historic farmstead around remote work and everyday routines. The clients inherit the land and, facing empty-nester life, want a room that separates business calls from the main house while keeping tools, bikes, and cars under one roof. What emerges is a garage and office that lean into the plainspoken language of Midwestern barns, yet adjust it to support concentrated work, music practice, and easy movement between porch, field, and house.
Recasting The Barn Lot
The new structure sits precisely where an old dairy barn once stood, its long gable echoing that footprint alongside a heritage hay barn and the modest Model T shed. Orientation follows the established axis of these buildings, so the yard still reads as a working farm rather than a suburban driveway cluster. From the back deck of the house, concrete steps lead directly to the office entry, giving a short, legible commute that nonetheless feels separate. Old and new volumes frame a grassy court where everyday paths between house, office, and barns intersect.
Porch, Deck, And View Lines
A scissor truss roof shapes an asymmetrical gable that flares to form a two-sided covered porch, pushing shelter out toward both yard and drive. Galvanized corrugated metal wraps the roof and sidewalls, while vertical wood siding painted barn red carves out the office bay and recesses the porch in shadow. A simple timber deck extends the floor plane, so a chair can slide from inside to outside without a step. From that perch, a salvaged steel window at the south end of the east porch frames a long view of pastures and fences, holding a tangible fragment of the dairy barn in daily use.
Office For Remote Days
Inside, the office reads as a single gabled room with a clean white envelope and a warm, paneled ceiling punctuated by small recessed lights. One end holds a work desk, while the open floor makes room for a drum kit and casual seating, supporting both focused tasks and off-hours practice. Sliding glass doors span the south wall, pulling in daylight and aiming views straight toward another small red outbuilding in the distance. The room stays uncluttered, but the layered rugs, framed art, and equipment trace the owners’ habits without fuss.
Garage As Everyday Workshop
Beyond the office wall, the garage stretches under the same roof, lined with exposed wood framing and open trusses overhead. Hooks, racks, and ladders hang from the studs, turning the structure itself into a flexible storage grid for bikes, tools, and seasonal gear. A concrete slab floor carries the practical load of cars and farm equipment, while generous lighting keeps the volume bright even on winter evenings. Large overhead doors open to a broad apron, so vehicles roll out easily and the interior can convert into a spillover workroom when projects grow.
As daylight fades, the red siding glows against the silver barns, and pooled light under the porch marks the short walk back to the main house. The building holds its role quietly, giving the owners a dependable place to park, to log on, and to look out across the fields. In daily use, PatchWorked turns a remembered barn site into an active hinge between past farm life and the routines of remote work.
Photography courtesy of Dake Wells Architecture
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