Light colors and an aluminum grate opened up a dark interior. The concrete mantel replaced red brick.
Original oak floors share space with an ABC Carpet area rug and a floor lamp from The Conran Shop.
The kitchen features metal-faced Ikea cabinetry, a "BIGFOOT" dining table from German firm e15 and Panton chairs.
Massive windows reveal mountain views between steel beams coated in white sealant. The aluminum catwalk "exfoliates" bare feet.
A shed and window casing show the hand-carved character of the traditional Norwegian storehouses that the house imitates.
A shed and window casing show the hand-carved character of the traditional Norwegian storehouses that the house imitates.
Custom planters and rolling square beds add a modern touch. Lanterns found in Marrakesh blend northern Europe with North Africa.
Simple comforts fill the master bedroom: white rug is hand-stitched Peruvian alpaca fleece; the lamp is from The Conran Shop
The blackened steel balustrade comes from a costume designer known for making chain mail.
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window on the woods

In the Berkshires, an A-frame cabin gets a modern angle
Type: 
Text
Author name: 
Harry Sawyers
Type: 
Photography
Author name: 
PETER MARGONELLI

The housing stock in the rural Berkshires got a bit more exotic in 1976, when a Norwegian shipbuilding firm began sending over kit houses like this one in Hillsdale, New York.The homes featured some great Scandinavian vernacular—including hand-carved beams and a charming inverted-toadstool shape—but they also displayed the dark paneling and shag carpeting ubiquitous to ’70s American interiors.

When graphic designer Peter Yates and publicist Ashok Sinha found this little cabin in the woods in 2001, they judged it as too little, with too much wood. But in Yates’s eyes, the ugly duckling had the architectural merit to be a big open-plan house. He hollowed out the 2,500-square-foot space, extended an end of its A-frame and installed 20-foot-tall, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the landscape’s rolling hills.The warren of wood-paneled divisions gave way to an aluminum catwalk and a hand-forged steel railing, lightened further by
white walls. The rough-hewn beam siding went from dark brown to inky black, the matte stain hand-brushed on by the homeowners. “I was drawn to the simple graphic shape of the roofline immediately, but the house was faceless,” Yates recalls.It now faces the forest.

The shipbuilding firm made good on a few lifetime guarantees that outlasted the company itself.Several casement windows had gone bad over the years, but a kind Scandinavian was able to send replacement hardware to get the place sealed up.The wall of windows is now better insulated than Yates and Sinha’s Chelsea apartment, and the concrete fireplace keeps the place warm during what Yates calls the “nine freezing months of the year.” So the modern update managed to restore the cozy feel of the little cabin in the woods.

Resources:

Peter Yates Design, 212.594.2484; peteryatesdesign.com. ABC Carpet & Home, 888 Broadway, NYC 10003; 212.473.3000; abchome.com. The Conran Shop, 407 E. 59th St., NYC 10022; 866.755.9079; conranusa.com. Le Klint at YLighting, ylighting.com. Panton at DWR, 142 Wooster St., NYC 10012; 212.471.0280; dwr.com. DWR, 86 Greenwich Ave., Greenwich, CT 06830; 203.422.2013; dwr.com. DWR, 30 Nassau St., Princeton, NJ 08542; 609.921.0899; dwr.com. (pages 86–87) The Conran Shop, 407 E. 59th St., NYC 10022; 866.755.9079; conranusa.com. The Cherner Chair Company, 218 North St., Ridgefield, CT 06877; 866.243.7637; chernerchair.com. Bronwyn Kidd, bronwynkidd.com. Celia Calle, celiacalle.com. Peter Yates Design, 212.594.2484; peteryatesdesign.com.