“We had renovated many different homes over the years and were not intimidated by the process,” continues Dan, who has been a business owner in New Hampshire for 35 years and took an active role in the design and construction process. The couple bought the Amherst house sight-unseen during the pandemic and never looked back.

They turned to Patrick Ahearn, a favorite architect of theirs from trips to the Cape and Islands, to transform the humble home into a comfortable, modernized retreat while maintaining 19th-century integrity. “It was really important to us that the renovation be historically accurate, and that is what Patrick specializes in,” relays the owner.

Ahearn reimagined the home’s backstory without adding to its footprint, capturing the barn as usable living space. “This arrangement gives a sense of implied history, that the sections were added over time,” explains the architect. Rounding out the site plan is a new freestanding carriage house with garage below and living space above. Its period detailing matches the house and makes it look like it has always been there.

Read the Article