ON DESIGN: New livery for the barn

For three generations, Ken Bazemore's family has owned the rolling farm land outside of Byron, the place he and his wife, Sally, still call home. Hugging the slope of a hill, their house has a panoramic view of the land from the glass walls on all sides.

Now retired from his dental practice in Warner Robins, Ken has been landscaping one vignette at a time, planning the islands of interest to be seen from various vantage points on the property. An imposing stone entrance greets visitors with a collection of large clay vessels and shrubbery that complement the texture of the stone.

A traditional, Kentucky, creosote stained fence surrounds the acres of pasture land where quarter horses once grazed. Ken no longer raises quarter horses -- a longtime hobby he had to give up due to some back problems.

Sally once worked with Nan Moore, an interior designer from Perry who now lives in Atlanta, but her design skills are still at work throughout the house and property. The Bazemores added a pergola down the hill from their house, a private, covered patio tucked behind a wing of the house with a commanding view of their renovated barn.

The original Wick shelter, a post framed building with a metal raised-seam roof, was used to protect hay from the elements. To house the horses, when they weren't grazing in the pasture, concrete stalls were added on each side of the shelter, with sliding stall doors equipped with iron bars to allow light in the stalls.

AMBITIOUS TRANSFORMATION

At one time, the friendly faces of curious quarter horses could be seen looking out of their exterior stall windows. When Ken could no longer ride his horses, the barn did not sit idle very long before Sally decided to transform it into another living area.

With Ken on board with the idea, the first step was stabilizing the shelter to support a more substantial roof. To retain its original look, insulation was added under the existing roof and another raised-seam metal surface sealed the insulation and is visible from the inside as the ceiling material. Hefty rustic beams tie the supporting walls together.

After securing the shell of the building, the Bazemores settled on a brick floor, using old brick salvaged by Cherokee Brick in Macon, from a structure that had to be razed. The rosy, dusty patina of old brick, which cannot be duplicated, adds a complementary element and a modicum of relief to the stained wood walls of the living area.

The sliding wood stall doors were left in place, cleaned and stained, their tracks well oiled to allow the doors to move with ease, reminding guests that this was once a real horse barn.

Since a shelter has no doors, arched double barn doors were replicated in quarter sawn wood for each end of the living area. The walls are clad in recycled heart pine, milled from beams salvaged from an old cotton gin, wrapping the central room in the warmth of the finely grained wood; scars from old hand-forged nails were purposely left on the paneled walls.

RECYCLED MEMORIES

The kitchen, another converted stall, is furnished with 1930-era metal cabinets that Sally saved from her grandmother's house. The long exterior wall of the kitchen is completely covered with a cabinet, inherited from Ken's family, and reaches the ceiling. He and Sally decided to leave it in its original finish, a cerulean blue wash that resembles old buttermilk paint.

Since the cabinet was built as a utilitarian piece, with no flourishes, crown molding was added and stained to match the cabinet, giving it a more respectable appearance as the commanding presence in the kitchen.

A smooth concrete floor, painted in large gray and coral squares, looks like an oversized, playful, gingham check.

Determined to use as many recycled products in their project as possible, Sally found the plinth of a large column to serve as a pedestal for the vessel lavatory in the women's bathroom; an old claw foot tub was resurfaced and modernized with the addition of a shower.

The Bazemores planned to use the barn for a guest house and for entertaining, so two bathrooms, designated for men and women, seemed like a convenient concept. Sally enlisted Nan Moore to help her blend old and new furniture and accessories, with emphasis on textures and colors that are lively and durable.

Rugs woven in Native American and Asian tribal patterns cover the brick floors throughout the barn, defining conversation, lounging and dining areas. A saddle leather, tuxedo sofa with cushions covered in remnants of Kilim rugs, indirect lighting from chandeliers, concealed by parchment shades, and comfortable club chairs are new, but look at home and inviting in the refined, rustic environment.

The Bazemores started their venture in 2008, Sally traveling to antique sales to find the appropriate furnishings, Ken searching for the best materials for the permanent finishes. They were taking their time to find just the right things when their son announced he planned to celebrate his wedding in the renovated barn in a matter of months!

With a firm, but happy deadline looming, they had to move into high gear to complete their retreat. Ken said he recalled a wedding reception in a restored barn where the lights malfunctioned at the very moment the bride was supposed to have the first dance with her father, so electrical wiring became a priority to make sure he didn't experience the same horror story and, "have to leave home."

The barn is a repository of mementoes from the homes Sally and Ken remember from childhood -- a library to remind their children of a simpler way of life, before electronic gadgets. The columns supporting the covered front porch of the barn were taken from the chicken house on Sally's family farm. Three large hand-forged bells, once the call to supper for cows or farmhands, now hang in front of the barn, and will entertain another generation when the Bazemores' grandchildren are tall enough to sound the gongs.

YOUR CARRIAGE AWAITS

In the back of the barn, in the appropriately named carriage house, stands a gleaming black, open phaeton with a fringed red canopy, purchased by Sally's grandfather, Filmore Dorsett, in 1908. Her brother, the late Ralph Dorsett, gave her the carriage and a working wagon from the Dorsett farm.

According to Sally, Ralph restored the carriage, emblazoned with his Georgia Tech colors, yellow and black; in its second restoration, the yellow was removed and replaced by red to reflect their daughter's alma mater, the University of Georgia.

For the next wedding in the Bazemore family, the elegant coach needs only a team of horses to whisk away the bride and groom.

Sally and Ken know their children will always come back to visit, for the barn is enchanting and irresistible fun for the entire family.

Katherine Walden is an interior designer and freelance writer in Macon. Contact her at 478-742-2224 or kwaldenint@aol.com.

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 9:31 PM with the headline "ON DESIGN: New livery for the barn ."