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Feed Mill Townhouse

The project is an adaptive reuse of a vacant small-town feed mill that once provided agricultural animal feeds and seeds for the local farming community. Built in the 1930s, it still contains the original vertical conveyor belt, a deeply recessed concrete pit, a small mezzanine, and a floor scale for weighing carts of feed. The roof structure is composed of exposed lumber trusses. There are two large openings with overhead doors as well as ten small windows at two levels.

The owners are locals that love the town and have invested in its welfare. They bought the empty buildings not only to revitalize them but also the neighboring ag-industrial buildings on the edge of town. They were drawn to the vacant feed mill because of its history as well as the agricultural-industrial aspects. They envisioned a new home for themselves with an urban loft feel.

The layout of the open ground floor and mezzanine lent itself to reuse as an urban style loft apartment. The mezzanine became the bedroom suite, the space under the mezzanine became the kitchen, bar, and dining, and the open main floor became the living space. Even the pit had a use – it became what we called the Wine Shaft where wine is stored and celebrated. The two large exterior openings were ideal for large window walls to bring daylight into the large open space. New steel and wood stairs and steel landing/bridge connect the mezzanine to the main floor. New cabinetry creates spaces like the reading nook and kitchen and bedroom while doing double duty as railings for the mezzanine and around the edge of the Wine Shaft.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The Feed Mill is part of a three-building complex on the long, narrow site in the ag-industrial section of town.

Feed Mill Townhouse

A "before" photo of the feed mill building.

Feed Mill Townhouse

A "before" photo of the interior of the mill house.

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

A "before" photo of the feed mill space showing the concrete block and stucco walls and the hand-built wood roof trusses. The loading bay is on the left.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The large loading dock portals were filled with window walls.

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

This bookcase creates a reading nook while acting as a railing for the Wine Shaft pit below. Notice the vertical conveyor belt that carried feed from the pit to the ground floor and the mezzanine above.

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

This building section shows the three levels of the townhouse space: pit, main floor, and loft. The loft AC unit is hidden over the closet. To the left is the vertical conveyor belt that runs from the bottom of the pit, past the main floor and loft, and up to an electric motor in the cupola that runs the conveyor.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The dining area is defined by the existing grid of steel columns. The wood joist structure above was largely intact. Any missing pieces were replace with reclaimed wood to blend in.

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

The kitchen island is on wheels to reposition it for large gatherings. It can plug into strategically located floor outlets.

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

A "before" photo of the interior showing the existing loft and next to it the recessed pit. The vertical conveyor belt is cased in wood for workplace protection and to keep the feed dust contained.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The original wood flooring, rough and scarred from use, was deep cleaned, lightly sanded to remove splinters, then wire brushed and waxed. Areas that were really bad were replaced with the same flooring from areas hidden by the new cabinetry.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The original hand-built trusses are the highlight, a spider work of 2x6’s. We preserved the exposed underside of the old corrugated steel roof by adding new foam board insulation on top of the old roofing and a new corrugated metal roof.

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

Feed Mill Townhouse

The concrete pit with the original vertical conveyor belts encased in wood shafts. We demolished the four little concrete columns and removed the casing from the belts to exposed them.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The finished pit that became the wine cellar dubbed the Wine Shaft where wine could be stored, displayed, and celebrated. An industrial ship's ladder gained access to the main floor. The conveyor belts were exposed by removing the wood shafts that surrounded them.

Feed Mill Townhouse

One side of the pit was open to the crawl space underneath the main floor, where we located the HVAC unit and duct-work for the main level. My caption for this photo of the owner and builder is, "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

Feed Mill Townhouse

The crawl space end of the pit was covered with wood cabinetry that still allowed access to the crawl space. The upper part is the back of the bookcase on the main floor above. The other pit walls were left in their original, unfinished board-formed concrete finish.

Feed Mill Townhouse

A small storeroom off the main space was converted into a full bath with frosted glass door and window. Since the residence has only one bedroom, the new main floor bath allowed the owners to have guests sleep over on the convertible sofa.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The bath has full-height subway tile on the walls and mosaic tile on the floor that flows into a walk-in shower. The vanity is fabricated of steel sections and has a concrete top. New cabinets provide storage space for linens and supplies as well as a broom closet for the main floor. The new electrical system for the residence is composed of artfully laid out exposed metal conduit and boxes as seen on the left.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The original floor scale is still working. The set of counterweights is still intact. The decades of wear and tear on the cement finish of the CMU walls was highly prized and carefully washed and sealed.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The exterior was finished in three coats of cement stucco over the existing concrete block walls. The large openings for the loading docks were used to create large window walls to bring daylight into the large interior space. It helped that there were already ten small windows, two of which are visible on the upper right. The large curved metal hood protects the original commercial-sized exhaust fan.

Feed Mill Townhouse

Floor Plans of existing Feed Mill.

Feed Mill Townhouse

The Living, Dining, and Kitchen compose the ground floor, which opens to the pit below, now used as a wine cellar known as the Wine Shaft. The loft is over the Kitchen and Dining. The entry deck to the right serves as the outdoor space for the townhouse.

Feed Mill Townhouse

Second floor plan shows loft bedroom suite with the main space below. The upper left corner shows the conveyor belt that runs down to the pit two floors down. The bathroom vanity/storage cabinet is open to this 3-story space and acts as a railing. The bedroom bookcase acts as a railing over the living space below.