Chickenhouse/Studio

In the January/February 2009 issue of Country Home magazine, I wrote a column about the transformation of one of our farm outbuildings into a studio. Our former chicken house measures 16 x 32 feet and was home to our hens for 10 years. Then we got an idea about reclaiming an outbuilding when we were on a family trip to Sweden. My kids stayed in a little garden shed with bunk beds--and were totally smitten with the idea. And so was I.

So we came home and started looking at our outbuildings in a whole new light. Out went the chickens (they got a new chicken house). And then we (and I mean our friend/contractor Randy) scooped out the building (an obvious and necessary first step), laid white pine flooring, put up drywall and built a brick divider so the space is bisected into two rooms. We use the space as a photo studio and office.

And we're probably the only farm in the country with two phone lines in their chicken house.