The Callahan Divide Residence project entailed the conversion of a 6000 s.f. steel barn
frame into a 2200 s.f. single family residence and 700 square foot carpentry shop. The
overall agenda was to preserve and reveal as much of the existing structure as possible
while breaking down the single volume into a series of more human scale enclosures,
niches, vestibules, and patios, framed with rain and sun screens as well as pergolas and a
porte cochere. This scheme was helped along with the requirement to protect the long
east and west exposure of the building from excessive solar heat gain and re-radiation
from the existing slab with roomy overhangs. The screening system also provided the
aperture control for framing and breaking down the views of a 25 mile distant horizon
across nearly 100 degrees of the western face of the structure and bookended on the
southernmost aspect by the march of the Callahan Divide, a chain of mesas splitting a
valley nearly 100 miles wide with 500 feet of relief.
The clients took it upon themselves in this instance to personally plane and finish all
interior wood trim and millwork. They also cast and installed all the concrete countertops
which comprise every horizontal surface on the level one. The mezzanine stair for this
project (steel frame with wood laminate tread) was salvaged from a residential re-model in
Austin, Texas bringing the percentage of re-used steel used in this project up to 95 percent
by weight.
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