The Stealth Barn is a beautifully simple structure, both inside and out, located in rural windswept Norfolk.

Designed to look “like it is there and not there,” the Stealth Barn in the Norfolk Fens (coastal flatlands) was remarkably inexpensive to build, costing under $50,000 – although, of course, the budget is helped when the owner can design it too. The architect, Carl Turner, who built it for his own personal use, bought the black-stained timber shell, and fitted the windows and interior himself.

It may look like the inside of a packing crate, but this interior is continuous wall-to-wall OSB (oriented strand board, which is compressed wood stuck together with wax and resin). It’s a low-priced material, durable and resistant. Against the neutral but interesting background, the owner-architects have used clean, unfussy furniture, in monochrome, wood and metal, such as Arne Jacobsen and Bertoia chairs.

The colour and coverall nature of the chipboard (affixed to the walls, floor and ceilings) is designed to mimic straw bales, which often divide spaces in barns on working farms nearby.

The barn can be used as a guest wing, or as a studio and meeting space. Just what everyone needs attached to their house, for the in-laws to stay in, noisy children to play in, or work projects to be pondered on in peace.

Stealth Barn was designed as an extension to a (more conventional) larger brick barn conversion, Ochre Barn, situated next door.

Photos: Carl Turner, Tim Crocker and Jeremy Phillips.

Places & Spaces is a travel guide that will inspire you to carve out a vacation on your calendar. All of the gorgeous locations and accommodations in our guide share our concern for the environment. From tent glamping to lavish built environments, fair warning, you’ll feel compelled to pack your suitcase.

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