This North Carolina Farmhouse Renovation Maximizes Outdoor Living

Porch Breezeway — Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

A 1790s North Carolina farmhouse is paid the ultimate old-house compliment—its new screened porch is often mistaken for being a century old. Making any addition to a 200-year-old farmhouse requires sensitivity to its architecture and heritage.

In this beautiful North Carolina farmhouse remodel, the architect added a screened porch, creating a space that is sympathetic to the existing structure but feels like its own space. Incredible features of this North Carolina farmhouse remodel include the screened porch's vaulted ceilings, the salvaged timber island, and the hand-forged hook-and-eye tie rod that replaces a traditional wooden support beam. Even the stonework is the result of a passion for place: The homeowner spent a year collecting stone from the property to ensure it matched the home's original structure. Such attention to detail highlights how passionate you can be about caring for, preserving, and enhancing a beloved house. But this place is much more—a North Carolina farmhouse remodel done with this amount of love and care can only be known by one word: home.

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Seamless North Carolina Farmhouse Remodel

After carefully restoring her 200-year-old Federal-style farmhouse in Stanly County, North Carolina, the homeowner quickly realized she lacked a crucial country-living element: a spacious, covered outdoor space where she could entertain, relax, and enjoy the views. In stepped Charlotte-based architect Ken Pursley to design a screened porch addition that would afford the outdoor living she wanted and still uphold all the integrity of the beloved historic farmhouse. Using the original home as his reference point, Ken devised a plan for a porch that was in keeping with the home's architectural spirit but still felt like a separate structure that had been added at a later date.

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Farmhouse Remodel Before

Problem: There's no outdoor living space to relax and entertain.

Solution: A new L-shaped screened porch that juts off the rear of the house maximizes breezes and views of the surrounding farm.

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Architectural Scale

Ken was careful not to let the addition overwhelm the original structure. "I tried to be sensitive to the main house by being respectful of the existing scale," he says. To do so, Ken kept the proportions and roofline in check by constructing the 635-square-foot addition in two separate but connected zones: a flat-ceilinged breezeway and a vaulted living and dining area.

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Tour the Space

Comfort is key! See how Ken planned the porch as a true living room.

Entrances: Matching screened doors on both sides of the breezeway allow guests to enter the porch and back of the house from the barn or pool area.

Wet Bar: Placing an island in this high-traffic area is a clever use of space. Guests can grab a drink on their way to the adjoining dining and seating areas.

Dining Area: Keeping the homeowner's frequent entertaining in mind, Ken carved out an eating spot on one side of the porch to fit a generous table and an antique church pew used as a bench.

Living Room: Three sides of screens provide multiple views and plenty of cross breezes. A large stacked-stone fireplace keeps everyone toasty on cool evenings.

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Seating Area

The porch's vaulted ceiling rises to 15 feet, which is 6 feet higher than the flat-ceilinged breezeway. The vaulted ceiling gives height to the stone chimney and fireplace by Randy Sells Stone Masonry. Floor paint in neutral Mega Greige (7031) by Sherwin-Williams, classic wicker furniture and cushions (by Summer Classics for Frontgate), and pillows (lacefielddesigns.com) help give the space the comforts and feeling of an indoor room.

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Porch Breezeway

Building the new porch straight off the rear of the home would have created a telescope effect. So instead, Ken planned the structure to run parallel to the main house and then connected the two rectangular buildings with a narrow screened breezeway. "We took a T-shaped house and turned it into an H-shaped house," says Ken.

A kegerator (customhomepubs.com) and stainless steel built-in under-counter refrigerator (summitappliance.com) provide easy access to drinks and snacks when entertaining in the space. Metal curtains (cascadecoil.com) keep wet bar essentials out of sight. A French door connects the porch to the kitchen for easy access when entertaining.

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Porch Dining Area

The homeowner sought out nearby artisans to construct the new screened porch. The age-old techniques that many of these stonemasons, carpenters, and metalsmiths inherited from their fathers and grandfathers helped give the project its authenticity. "These craftsmen built the porch with the same level of care and detail that the original home had," says Ken.

The farm table was handcrafted from antique heart pine by Georgia Harvest Tables. A vintage church pew provides ample seating and pillows covered in green fabric (calicocorners.com) and jute (potterybarn.com) provide color and comfort. Birdhouses handcrafted by Ty Buris of Bear Creek Cabinet Shop in Oakboro add a touch of whimsy to the casual dining area.

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Salvaged Timber Island

Instead of store-bought lumber, well-worn, century-old wood from the carpenter's family farm wraps the custom island, which was designed by Mark Kline, Pursley Dixon Architecture, and crafted by Ty Burris of Bear Creek Cabinet Shop. Barstools (rh.com) in a weathered oak color complement the salvaged lumber.

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Old-World Support

Brian Baucom of Baucom Welding in Monroe made the tie-rod, fire screen, and tools. Hand-forged from iron, the hook-and-eye tie-rod replaces the expected wood beam. It's also a functioning turnbuckle.

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