The land that Barzenick and her husband, Jay, purchased was 17 acres, though they were able to expand it to 32 acres after a dairy farmer retired and sold the property. With such a large piece of land, the siting of the house became not only important but also difficult — so much land to consider. First steps were renovating the farmhouse and excavating a pond for drainage and as a water feature. "Living in the farmhouse and looking across the fields, the land revealed itself to us and changed our thoughts about where to build the new house," Barzenick says.

In the architect's words, the house is "sited carefully on 30 acres of beautiful pastures. The site provides multiple opportunities to reflect itself to the various corners of the property and offers constant viewing opportunities as one moves through the house."

The first couple of photos, showing the front of the house, reveal how it is a contemporary update of the traditional traits I mentioned: Pitched roofs are present but shallower than is typical, porches wrap the exterior, and wood is the primary cladding. The varied roofscape and the ins and outs of the exterior walls hint at the fairly laid-back nature of the plan, which prioritizes views, shade and the layout of the interior spaces.

More porches are found at the rear of the house, on either side of a substantial brick wall that is a strong datum line from front to back. This wall defines the separation between the two major volumes, between living (here on the left) and bedrooms (on the right); a gallery with stairs sits between them. This view also shows the carport, which is linked to the house and its back foyer by a covered walkway. The house and carport define an outdoor space for which a swimming pool is planned.

The intersection of the volumes, porches and materials visible in this view really drives home the contemporary/modern nature of the design. It's interesting to hear Barzenick say that "modern architecture speaks to me at a visceral level. I appreciate and admire the plantation and Acadian-style homes, but contemporary architecture speaks to me on another level."

Barzenick discovered and hired architect Tom Pistorius after "practically drooling over a contemporary eye clinic he designed," she says. The Northshore Eye Associates project is marked by dramatic roof overhangs, which find similar expression in the house's porches. Yet the drama is tempered by vertical planes of wood slats that span from column to column and column to house. These surface help cut down on the direct sunlight entering the interior spaces. They also align (roughly) with the headers of many of the windows, tying inside and outside together.

One last look at the exterior before moving inside. Three types of wood are used on the exterior: for siding, for window frames and for structure. The structure is the most impressive, comprising the columns and beams at the porches and the beams below the overhanging roofs. The articulation of the columns and beams is particularly nice in the way they are created with paired members.

The execution of the house appears exemplary, especially considering that Barzenick and her husband acted as general contractors on the project. "I handled the home construction, and he handled the most important aspect: the finances," says Barzenick. She further explains that even though they opted for something contemporary over something traditional, the overall process went smoothly: "I was very fortunate to have good subcontractors who were just as excited as me to work on something different."

Here we're looking at the front door. One walks into the house under a low wood ceiling, but a few steps away into the living area the space rises dramatically. After seeing the wood beams outside, the exposed wood trusses make sense; the structural connection between inside and outside is very well done. Yet on the inside the effect is even more dramatic, giving some rhythm and sense of scale to the large living area.

Rooms visible off the living include (right to left, from entrance) an alcove/sitting area, the kitchen and the dining room. These spaces have lower ceilings, but they all relate back to the taller living area, which can be seen as the heart of the house.

The impression of the living area being the heart of the house is reinforced by the fireplace in the brick wall (visible from the rear of the house seen earlier) and the wood slats that define the entry and act as guardrails for a second-floor lookout. The brick and wood, like the wood trusses, connects inside and outside, bringing the sunshades and substantial brick wall inside.

Moving slightly within the living area, we can see the axis that extends from the back foyer (behind us) toward the bedrooms in the distance. The terminus of the axis is a canvas for artwork, the tall piece mounted on the wall perfectly framed in the opening.

Moving in the direction of the bedrooms, we get a closer glimpse of the alcove, which works as an intimate sitting area with large windows capturing views of the landscape.

Closer still and some details become more pronounced: The wood slats next to the entry are double layered (remember the twinned beams/columns in wood?), the concrete base below the brick wall acts as a plinth for the TV, and — my favorite — the wood on the floor and the ceiling runs in the direction of this major axis, reinforcing the connection between the two sides of the house.

Moving into the hallway by the bedrooms and turning 180 degrees, we can see the way the gallery works: Glass on both sides opens up to the landscape on both sides (the rear of the house is to the left). So every movement from living to sleeping areas, and vice versa, heightens the experience of outdoors through the views. Outside, the house may be all about the porches (1,800 square feet of them in all!), but views are paramount inside.

Our tour ends back on the other side of the house, in the kitchen, Barzenick's favorite place in the house. The kitchen was planned to face the front of the house, "so I could see the pond and the pasture and also keep an eye on the kids while they play outside," she says. The kitchen is exposed but also protected by the porch.

Again, we can see the connection between inside and outside, something that happens through materials and through views, but also through the way the porches mediate between the inside spaces and the landscape beyond. Even when Barzenick and her family are not using them, the porches are important spaces for them.