In the Hudson Valley, a Minimalist Fence Artfully Contrasts a Renovated Farmhouse
Architect Winka Dubbeldam taps into her days as a sculpture student to create a barrier-breaking wooden partition.
![In the Hudson Valley, a Minimalist Fence Artfully Contrasts a Renovated Farmhouse](https://images.dwell.com/photos/6063391372700811264/6733304556455514112/small.jpg?#)
Architect Winka Dubbeldam taps into her days as a sculpture student to create a barrier-breaking wooden partition.
![](https://images.dwell.com/photos/6063391372700811264/6733304556455514112/large.jpg)
The picket fence isn’t for everyone. Take fashion designer Tia Cibani. Her recently renovated Hudson Valley farmhouse has a traditional shingled exterior, but when it came to a fence to protect her young children from a pool on one side of the property and a pond on the other, she went with a more contemporary enclosure.
![Winka Dubbeldam chose recycled ipe wood for a fence she designed in New York State, because of its oily and dense composition, which can withstand the elements.](https://images.dwell.com/photos-6063391372700811264/6733304558620790784-medium/winka-dubbeldam-chose-recycled-ipe-wood-for-a-fence-she-designed-in-new-york-state-because-of-its-oily-and-dense-composition-which-can-withstand-the-elements.jpg)
Winka Dubbeldam chose recycled ipe wood for a fence she designed in New York State, because of its oily and dense composition, which can withstand the elements.
Photo by Federica Carlet
"It’s a nice, light, feathery move in the landscape because of its transparency," says Winka Dubbeldam, founder and principal of Archi-Tectonics, who designed the home’s renovation as well as the fence. Dubbeldam devised two arcing lines of parallel wooden rails set in steel brackets connected by a below-ground metal bar that is anchored in a concrete channel. Installed at meticulously consistent intervals, they have a striking regularity despite the absence of cross bracing, which would have meant a greater disruption to the landscape. The result is a minimalist artwork doing double duty as a practical partition.
![Over time the wood will gain a patina to match the home’s weath-ered cedar cladding.](https://images.dwell.com/photos-6063391372700811264/6733304548016504832-medium/over-time-the-wood-will-gain-a-patina-to-match-the-homes-weath-ered-cedar-cladding.jpg)
Over time the wood will gain a patina to match the home’s weathered cedar cladding.
Photo by Federica Carlet
![](https://images.dwell.com/photos-6063391372700811264/6733304542564208640-medium/architecture-and-sculpture-are-both-about-breaking-norms-says-winka-dubbeldam-designer.jpg)
"Architecture and sculpture are both about breaking norms," says Winka Dubbeldam, designer.
Photo by Federica Carlet
See the full story on Dwell.com: In the Hudson Valley, a Minimalist Fence Artfully Contrasts a Renovated Farmhouse
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