the barn
C h i p H e m i n g w a y
There’s a lot to take in when
you enter the barn. At first look
a shed-roofed rectangle. The
wide skylights and windows fill
the white walls with a lush light
perfect for painting. The stu-dio
doubles as a gallery and an
impressive array of Hemingway’s
portraits, landscapes, and en
plein air paintings are on display.
But it soon becomes clear that
this is so much more than a stu-dio,
and significantly larger than
it seems.
Along with a wide-open space
for Hemingway to paint in,
there is also plenty of room for
the couches, refrigerator, oyster
table and a wood stove. One
doorway opens to a guest room,
another to a den. The den’s
walls are adorned with guitars
and surfboards. This is a place
meant to be lived in as well as
worked in.
It is his third studio.
“Painting has funded them all,”
Hemingway says.
By day, Hemingway is an archi-tect,
designing homes and pub-lic
buildings, including Lebanon
Chapel’s master plan, the three
North Carolina Aquariums,
Jennette’s Pier on Nags Head, Nir
Family YMCA in Wilmington,
the Wrightsville Beach Bath
House Pavilion and the Battleship
North Carolina’s cofferdam, hull
repair and memorial walkway.
Accessed by a pair of barn doors,
Chip Hemingway’s studio faces
the driveway and the home he
shares with his family and two
black Labrador retrievers.
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WBM march 2020