The Chicken Coop + Zinc House
Lake Bluff, Illinois
1988 - 2009

The Chicken Coop

When the client purchased several acres of land that had been vacant for decades, they found that there was more to save on the property than to build. Its oak savanna and prairie had more than 100 native species. The only structure was an old chicken coop: a long, pitched roof building which represented “embedded energy” — something to preserve.

A prairie burn
Larry Booth looking out at a Prairie
A long narrow house built out of chicken coop on a prairie
A modern house on a picturesque prairie
A barrel vaulted interior to a modern house on a prairie
A black metal modern house on a prairie

The Zinc House

In 2009, Booth Hansen added a larger house to become a residence for the extended family. Further honoring the site’s agricultural heritage, the Zinc House is massed like a barn, and as such, and has subsidiary wings added as needed.

A sprawling black metal zinc house on a prairie
A black metal house with tall windows and a razor-edge roof
a black metal house with a razor edge roof on a prairie
A large modern black metal house in a garden
A sketch by Larry Booth of the Chicken Coop house
A site plan of a Larry Booth designed Chicken Coop and Zinc House
A warm, Scandinavian interior with high ceilings looking out to a prairie
A warm, Scandinavian interior with high ceilings looking out to a prairie
A doorway of Booth Hansen's Zinc House
A modern black house behind a prairie