We Live (It Up!) In A...Party Barn
Country Living|October 2017

Step aside, she-sheds. This Wilmington, Delaware, backyard boasts the ultimate in recreational retreats.

Laura Kostelny
We Live (It Up!) In A...Party Barn

Barn envy is real. Kathryn O’Connor says she experienced it every time she took a road trip. “I became obsessed with them,” she says.

But wanting one and raising one are two very different things. The family of four lives in a suburban Wilmington, Delaware, neighborhood, so the whole endeavor seemed like a dream. Still, it was always top of mind, especially because Kathryn, an artist, and husband David, a drummer in a neighborhood band, craved spaces where they could pursue their individual hobbies.

And then one day in 2014, while antiquing with youngest daughter Ellie, Kathryn laid eyes on an old locker. “I happened to mention, ‘If we ever build a something, I’m going to get that locker,’ ” she says.

Ellie got the message. That Christmas, she presented her parents with that very locker and attached a note that said, “Do it.” So they did.

This story is from the October 2017 edition of Country Living.

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This story is from the October 2017 edition of Country Living.

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