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Birdseye and architect Brian J. Mac placed a two-story, 12,000-square-foot addition downhill behind Yester House at Southern Vermont Arts Center (SVAC), rather than attaching a new wing to the historic house’s front or side. Partly set into the slope and clad in Corten steel, the addition establishes a contemporary identity while keeping the 1917 Colonial Revival mansion visually distinct. Its galleries, classrooms and storage spaces are organized around art and views toward the Green Mountains and Battenkill Valley.
Why the new wing sits behind Yester House
Yester House is a 1917 Colonial Revival-style mansion on the former Webster Estate. The Southern Vermont Artists acquired the 120-acre property in 1950 as the arts center’s permanent home, according to SVAC’s campus history. The new wing’s position behind the house was central to its design: the addition could make a distinct architectural statement without competing with the mansion’s principal character.
William Morgan’s October 5, 2026 feature in The Architect’s Newspaper reports that five architecture teams were interviewed and Birdseye and Mac were the only team to propose building behind Yester House. Their solution places the new volume downhill, where the slope helps mediate its scale against the historic house.
How the building meets the steep site
The addition has two floors, with the lower level inserted about halfway into the ground. From the uphill approach, the building’s relationship to the house and terrain differs from its presence on the downhill side; the section uses the hillside rather than treating it as a flat building pad. Galleries, classrooms and storage occupy the wing, with a white Vermont marble staircase connecting levels.
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An 80-foot catwalk extends from the addition to provide access to surrounding views, according to The Architect’s Newspaper. The project makes circulation part of the landscape experience: a visitor moves through exhibition spaces, then encounters the valley and mountain setting beyond the building.
Why Corten steel was chosen
The exterior is clad in rusty Corten steel arranged in repetitive wall panels. Morgan reports that the proposal initially drew objections from donors and Vermont’s Division for Historic Preservation. The design response was not to imitate the Colonial Revival house, but to let the old and new structures remain legible as different moments: Yester House retains its Early American character while the extension reads as contemporary.
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The material also gives the addition a reference to Vermont’s working landscape. Inside, light local white oak provides a contrasting finish. The result depends on the relationship between the two materials and the historic setting, rather than on making the addition disappear.
How the galleries frame art and landscape
The new gallery experience is anchored by For the Love of Vermont: The Lyman Orton Collection. The center says the collection’s 2023 exhibition attendance helped motivate a purpose-built gallery, and that strengthened security and high-level humidity and climate controls are intended to make loans from other collections possible; see SVAC’s expansion overview.
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Both the architects and the center describe the view as an intentional part of the visitor sequence. Mac told The Architect’s Newspaper, “The minute you walk through the door, the insistent view draws you through.” Executive director Amelia Wiggins described the same organizing idea to Seven Days: “The building’s been conceived around the view, with the thought that that’s what has pulled Vermont artists here for generations.” The Green Mountains and Battenkill Valley are thus more than a backdrop; the view helps shape how visitors move through the wing.
What the published cost figures mean
Published cost figures use different descriptions and should not be treated as interchangeable. Morgan’s October 2026 feature reports $14.5 million for the expansion. Alice Dodge’s June 17, 2026 Seven Days review describes a $13.5 million construction budget funded entirely by private donations. The sources do not explain the difference in scope or timing, so neither figure establishes a final, directly comparable project cost.
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Planning a visit
SVAC’s visitor page, accessed October 5, 2026, lists Wednesday–Sunday hours of 10 a.m.–8 p.m., with the center closed Monday and Tuesday. Admission is listed as free for members and children 18 and under, $20 for adults, and $10 for students. The page also says the lower-level Van Degna Gallery and the second floor of Yester House are accessible by a new ADA-compliant elevator. Because hours, prices, accessibility arrangements and exhibitions can change, check SVAC’s official visitor information before traveling.
Quick Recap
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