Many have asked so I’m now doing pictures and a bit of the history as I know it that surrounds our barn. We are ‘in town’ technically, but we have one of the last standing barns, It’s in great shape as it doesn’t leak and the floor and inside walls were made of half logs. It was built in 1850 according to the real estate information. The only thing the previous owner left behind of any value was an abstract Title that spelled out the history of the property, a story for another time.
The last owner had used it for storage and had it packed so full you couldn’t see all 4 walls at the same time. When they moved they took most of their things, but did leave behind a 60 yard dumpster full of junk (you know things like 60 year old vacuums, broken high chairs, plastic one gallon jugs, broken coat racks, etc… I could go on for pages.
We were not told that it is ‘sliding’ off its foundation by the previous owners, but the previous previous owner has told us it is. He said he shored up in the early 90’s before selling. Now we’re told the next guy put skirting (we were told it was for drainage) around the shoring to disguise it. This summer we’ll take off the skirting and see where we stand. Hubby is thinking about turning it into a workshop. Once we cleared away the debris we found a pretty neat barn. The building itself is about 28 x 30 and has a large attic area. There is a wood burning stove and old brick chimney. The sliding carriage doors (I couldn’t get a picture of these today – too many mud puddles) no longer slide open as that side is braced from the ground up, but look neat anyway. The graffiti is leftover from the local high school students. In the 80’s our barn was used to construct the homecoming float in each year and became a hangout for the kids. Someone replaced one of the windows with a vinyl slider that looks really out of place. Right now hubby uses it for mainly storage.
And this picture is especially for Barbara. This is the south west corner where you can begin to imagine the greenhouse made from our old sash windows. This spring we will be planting lilacs of various colors along the outside of the chain link fence to create a hedge to hide it and add a touch of privacy. You also have to imagine the yard is green. If you look close, there are still a few small patches of snow here and there. In that corner will be the greenhouse. The door will open towards the yard. I may even set it on an angle for a touch of charm. Now imagine on either side a 3 tiered flower bed made from railroad ties and full of LOTS of color.
Mine a Munster House?
My brother associated it with the Addams Family.
I wish I had some old windows for a mini greenhouse. It is dump week in a few weeks, maybe I could have myself a roadside find?
Tamy! I shared this with my dh.
We like barns. Plenty around here but none at our place now although my dh would love one. My dh says that if you are taking the skirting off, you may need to get some screw jacks to jack it up so you can work under it. Good luck.
So — I see you have that pully door system. When I was younger, I lived in a Victorian house with a huge combo barn/carriage house (three doors, built around the time yours was built) (you can read more about this house in my blog). I remember my dad had to have some fixed and how costly it was at the time. Then with a second barn after a move, we had to have it done again.
Anyways, our cottage (total rehab) had a “barn” type structure (15 x30 feet, and a huge free standing chicken coop and outhouse too, all removed) attached to the kitchen. It was in such bad repair eventually we had to remove it. You are lucky to have yours and it does look like it is in great condition.
Yeah, and “The Money Pit” to me is a drama not a comedy movie.
Thanks for all the info on the faux tin ceiling tiles also.
Oh I LOVE that floor! It’s too bad it’s sliding off it’s foundation, hopefully it won’t be too much of a problem and you can stabilize it. What is the horseshoe shaped thing. It’s kind of hard to read the top words.
I loved going through the abstract for our last house, going through the history of it. The house we’re in now was built by the people we purchased from, not much history here…
I love the idea of setting it on an angle with flowerbeds on either side of it. I can definitely picture it… Either way it will be lovely.
I went around tonight and took some pictures of the green coming up in the yard. I hate that the grass looks so sad right now. So I’ll imagine yours nice and green, and you do the same for mine. 🙂