The Floating Farmhouse, an 1820s farmhouse renovation in upstate New York, is a feat of engineering and the result of relentless resourcefulness from architectural designer Tom Givone. In the kitchen, Givone demolished two lean-to shelters and built out the 450-square foot kitchen with a curtain wall of skyscraper glass. Inside, the kitchen is made up of new and salvage materials with punches of color. Here are Givone’s ideas on re-creating the look.
Above: The kitchen layout is based on the original footprint of the two demolished shelters. The glass steel window frame mirrors the lines of the original farmhouse windows. The beams, salvaged from a 200-year-old barn in Pennsylvania, were engineered to work with the steel window frame and skyscraper glass. Above: Givone says he “maximized the exterior effect by minimizing the interior finishes and making all the elements as honest and transparent as possible.” Above: “I must really love this house,” Givone says (proof: he spent a summer oxidizing the kitchen chimney’s Corten steel in a daily bath of muriatic acid).
Materials
Above: The kitchen is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Super White. Above: The kitchen island was salvaged from a Greenwich, Connecticut, house. Givone, who prefers paint colors close to white, painted the island in Benjamin Moore’s Hancock Green from the Historical collection. Above: The countertops are bluestone. CoorItalia has Belgian Blue Limestone and Artistic Tile stocks Belgian Bluestone. (For another kitchen featuring bluestone counters, see Steal This Look: A Black-on-Black Staff Kitchen in San Francisco. Above: The kitchen cabinets are Ringhult Cabinet Doors in gloss white from Ikea; $179 for the two-door cabinet set.
Above: Givone used the Blanco Rados Pro Kitchen Faucet with Black Sprayer Head at both sinks in the kitchen. It’s $611.92 in chrome on Amazon. Above: Givone found the concrete utility sink in the basement of a neighboring farmhouse and bought it from the neighbor. The sink has the original ribbing for scrubbing clothes. If it weren’t for the neighbor, Givone says he’d have looked for it at Olde Good Things, a favorite resource for salvaged goods. For a new, concrete kitchen sink, the Native Trails 33-Inch Farmhouse Double Bowl Sink (shown in Ash) is made of lightweight concrete for $1,845 at Native Trails.
Appliances
Above: The range is a FiveStar 48-Inch Pro-Style LP Gas Range; $5,356 at AJ Madison. Above: Givone installed the Toscano Wood Fired Oven within a “skin of floor-to-ceiling Corten steel.” The result is a monolithic, Richard Serra-like sculpture against a backdrop of white. The oven is $3,399 at Wildwood Ovens in California. Above: The KitchenAid Professional 600 Stand Mixer in white is $499.95 at Williams-Sonoma.
Lighting
Above: The large ceiling fixture is a commercial High Bay Metal Halide Lamps with a clear acrylic lens ($233 each at All Discount Lighting). It’s the kind used in school gymnasiums and warehouses. “I thought the gymnasium-like scale of the kitchen, the fact that they’re very simple, and, perhaps most importantly, inexpensive made them a good fit,” says Givone.
Furniture
Above: Vico Magistretti’s design for Kartell, the Maui Chair in Matte Pale Blue is $490 for two at Hive Modern. Above: The dining table in the farmhouse was designed by Givone and made custom for the space out of two-inch-thick pine. For something similar off-the-shelf, Jacob Plejdrup’s Gather Table is made of solid poplar, a wooden chosen for its ability to withstand warping and cracking; $2,990 for the 95-inch size at Design Within Reach. Above: The Village Vamelie Wood Dining Chair is Crate & Barrel’s take on vintage furniture, shown here painted in off-white, the chair has a worn-in look; $199. Above: Pottery Barn’s Mabry Side Chair is inspired by traditional Swedish Gustavian furniture, shown here in the darkest oak. The chair is currently on sale for $239.99.
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