Franklin & Associates, Design Build Voted 2nd in The WORLD For Houzz TV Episodes in the World
In 2019, the Houzz video team traveled around the country and the world to take users deep into the personal stories behind fascinating home renovation projects. The Houzz TV channel has more than 175 million views to date on Houzz and YouTube. And we’ll have many more exciting videos in 2020.
Franklin & Associates - Design/Build
2. A Bold Converted Barn for a Growing Family House at a Glance Who lives here: Crystal Madrilejos, vice president of creative strategy at Tenlo, a marketing agency; Andrew Towne, a stay-at-home dad and soon-to-be Montessori teacher; and their two kids, Quil, 9, and Ellis, 6 Location: Medina, Ohio Size: 3,200 square feet (297 square meters); three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Designer-builders: Tim Franklin of Franklin & Associates and Chris Weitzel-Janca (project manager)
As a kid playing in the hayloft of his parents’ dusty 80-year-old barn in Medina, Ohio, Andrew Towne never imagined that one day he would convert the space into a stunning modern home for himself and his then-elementary school friend Crystal Madrilejos. But decades later, that’s exactly what happened. They hired design-builder Tim Franklin, who began by assessing the structural integrity of the barn, looking for any wood rot or foundation problems. Once he was confident that the barn could be converted, he got to work on the design. To help him determine which direction to go in, he had Towne and Madrilejos create Houzz ideabooks with inspiration photos for various rooms in the house. Franklin then studied these photos, looking for design trends. “Those are my cues to start floor plans and elevations,” he says. He found that the couple gravitated toward a clean Scandinavian look with warm and rustic elements. He added several new windows to bring light inside, and built a new roof over the existing one to preserve the unique exposed framing that’s now the highlight of the interior. The upper portion of the exterior is cedar lap siding in a custom stain. The lower level is concrete block, also in a custom stain.Franklin & Associates - Design/Build
The framing’s construction is rare, Franklin says. Most people who built barns 80 years ago wanted to get the work done cheaply and quickly to store their animals, grain and equipment. With Towne and Madrilejos’ barn, he says, someone really took time and had a deep understanding of engineering. “It’s so much more work than a standard barn,” he says. “That ceiling is gorgeous. It’s a rare, unique and special framing.”
To highlight the framing, Franklin drywalled halfway up the walls to hide the mechanicals and plumbing, leaving the roof open. He then added insulation over the existing roof and built a new roof over that. “This is a one-of-a-kind barn home, and it will never be duplicated,” he says. Watch now: Go inside this amazing converted barn