When a pair of New Yorkers—a however life photographer and a humanitarian aid employee at the U.N.—were looking for a area to decompress in nature, they stumbled on an unlikely contender: an previous iron foundry named the Clover Hill Foundry, original crafted in the early 1890s.
Tucked on a hill in Somers, New York, the series of interconnected properties ended up designed to provide as component of an iron mine, but for reasons that continue being somewhat of a thriller, they have been closed and abandoned not lengthy after—”possibly,” in accordance to architect Ravi Raj—”due to a larger sized fraud procedure.” The structures fell into disrepair (and, according to the Somer Historic Culture, the mine shaft became a regional most loved swimming hole) until eventually the 1940s, when a trio of artists transformed the properties into separate residences, keeping—fortunately—many of the original information intact.
Fast ahead to the 21st century: The New York couple was taken by the spareness of the house and the way the windows framed sights of the surrounding trees. To update the foundry for contemporary lifestyle, the duo enlisted a close friend, Brooklyn-based architect Ravi Raj, who had worked with Adjaye Associates before starting his personal studio.
With treatment, Ravi preserved the foundry’s authentic brick partitions and picket beams, hewed to a stripped-again palette, then rearranged a few essential areas and extra a “modern volume” suspended inside the soaring room. Sign up for us for a seem.
Photography by Nick Glimenakis, courtesy of Ravi Raj Architect, besides exactly where pointed out.
Previously mentioned: The brick-clad foundry is tucked into the hillside. A significant update integrated replacing all of the unique solitary-pane windows with new steel-clad versions “in purchase to enable in the most volume of light-weight.”
Earlier mentioned: Inside of, the front door leads to a small whitewashed plywood platform. The neutral, organic components were being selected to “accentuate the interaction concerning the current masonry composition and freshly described dwelling areas.”Higher than: The dwelling spot is centered about a freshly additional Malm Zircon 38-Inch Fireplace in matte black. “It serves as the focal position in the area whilst also referencing the earlier hearth that once existed there,” Ravi claims.Above: The property owner, Claire, in a corner nook defined by wall-mounted bookshelves. “The original huge-plank pine floors have been stripped and then stained a dim brown coloration to contrast with the white brick inside,” Ravi states. “Also, staining the floor a darker tone permitted us to mix any mismatching current planks greater.”Over: An orange couch provides daring colour.Over: A important go associated relocating the kitchen from the decrease stage of the foundry to the second flooring, wherever it’s now of a piece with the dwelling and eating space. (The go also allowed for the addition of a bedroom on the decrease floor, not pictured.) The pair of Flos Wall Lamps can swing outward to illuminate the eating table.Previously mentioned: The kitchen, with honed marble island, is tucked beneath a cantilevered “box” clad in darkish charred-oak slats. “The inspiration was to produce an ingredient with a organic bark-like texture that would nearly feel like one more dwelling in the dwelling,” says Ravi. “This volume seems to float within just the room though also defining the kitchen area underneath it. The charred wood content also relates to the several towering trees surrounding the residence that are framed by the tall masonry openings.”Higher than: From the entry system, newly additional stairs direct upwards to a “screening room” and loft bed room in the cantilevered box, suspended over the kitchen and dwelling places. These new structures—the landing, stairway, and loft—are like “a contemporary quantity established in the aged brick and timber house,” the architect states.Higher than: Upstairs, the recently added loft bed room is white-washed and spare.Above: Lighter wooden planks insert to the feeling of airiness.Above: The watch of the residing region. (There are pull-down shades, for privacy.)Above: The bathtub, redone for contemporary occasions, references the building’s iron-ore beginnings.Over: A aspect construction, which previously served as guest household, now holds the primary bedroom, total with a different wooden stove—the Shaker Stove by Wittus—for “a additional intimate placing for the home owners to retreat to,” in accordance to Ravi.
It is maybe worth noting, specified that there are two wooden-burning stoves in this residence, that cast iron stoves are incredibly substantially a part of New York record: The towns of Albany and Troy, additional upstate, were once two of the most prolific producers of these stoves in the globe. Read far more about that history—and the in some cases elaborate designs—via the Albany Institute of Historical past & Art.
Over: The timber extension that now holds the primary bedroom.Above: Ravi on the entry landing. Photograph by Paul Barbera, couresty of Ravi Raj Architect.
For additional on the undertaking and “before” shots—some courting again as significantly as the switch of the century—head to @clover_hill_foundry on Instagram.
And for additional historic structures redone as residences, see:
