I recently began construction on a new studio. Well, I am not building it. My contractor is. I can build things with fabric or even paper, yet I am not handy with a saw or hammer.
I have dreamt of having a free-standing studio on my property since moving to the country almost a decade ago. I had attended classes with Nancy Crow at the Crow Barn. The Crow Barn is a barn c.1880 timber frame barn that Nancy moved to her farm from a neighboring property. It is a spectacular space with soaring ceilings, beautiful beams and atmosphere for days!
I dreamt and envisioned my barn and even put a barn on my vision board. Searching for antique barns yielded many beautiful results, most of which were a long haul away. Nothing seemed near enough and certainly not plausible. So with the end of the lease on my studio in town looming I thought it time to take on a new studio.
My house has a two car attached garage and a detached building intended by the homes first owner as a ‘workshop.’ We use it as a garage space and where the treadmill lives. (Notice I said the tread mill lives there, not that it is a gym – that requires using it!) Building onto the back side of the detached garage (as we call it) seemed logical. It is at the end of the driveway and just across the rear of the house for an easy commute!
The detached garage is a story and a half building. We continued the roofline with only a single story below creating ceiling volume like the barn. So began the lengthy process of planning; drawing flow plans, conversations with my contractor about what was possible and what was affordable, measuring studio equipment and playing with space on grid paper, looking for a lender to give me a loan, getting a mountain of paperwork together for the bank, sleepless nights wondering if it would all work and be worthwhile.
While the details were being ironed out some prep work needed to be completed. Three trees needed to be removed. Our well needed to be relocated as it was in the spot where siting the building made the most sense. Dirt needed to be brought in to level out the building site. Lastly the exterior stair that led to the room above the detached garage needed to come down. Once the money and plans were sorted the foundation was laid.
The foundation involved wood to hold the concrete in place, rebar to reinforce, stub outs for plumbing and HVAC. All before the trucks came and dumped concrete into place. Men in hip high rubber boots sloshed around in the concrete to move and level it.