Block Island

Miles Redd and Gil Schafer reimagine a 19th-century farm for a family of six, prioritizing sunlight, salt air, and a landmark of summers past.

- BY Stephen Wallis

FOR ALMOST A CENTURY Block Islanders have passed a familiar barn near the southern end of the Great Salt Pond, a glimmering central harbor for the Rhode Island summering set. Perched on a picturesque vantage point amid gently rolling hills, the gambrel-roof landmark was once part of a farm that had remained in the same family for generations. By the time its current owners-longtime seasonal residents-acquired the 16-acre property a decade and a half ago, both the barn and the adjacent 19th-century farmhouse had deteriorated badly.

While the couple opted to start fresh with the house, the barn, they insisted, had to stay. "It's this iconic barn that everyone stops their car on the roadside to take a picture of, with the Great Salt Pond and the sea beyond," says s architect Gil Schafer, a veteran of numerous historical renovations who worked with the couple to create a multi-building family getaway. "It was important to restore as much of it as possible, much more so than the farmhouse, which didn't really have the same presence," says Schafer, who dismantled the barn down to its foundation and rebuilt it with reclaimed timber.

As for the new house that would accompany it, the couple were sensitive to how changes would be perceived. "There are no tall poppies on Block Island. You really don't want to stand out," says the wife, who has been spending summers here since she was eight. She and her husband were married here, and two of their four now-adult children were baptized here. "The island has worked hard to retain a spirit of simplicity and community, so we spent a lot of time on-site planning and making sure that everything sat well not only on the property but on the island."