Ever since we moved into our house 3 ½ years ago, I’ve spent a lot of my free time fixing up the barn on the property. The main house was built around 1810. I estimate the barn was built prior to 1910. The barn is a traditional side-entry bank barn. Such barns were common in the mid 1800s thru the turn of the century.
The main barn is sited north/south with the ramp to the hay mow on the west side. There is a two-story milk shed on the south gable-end with an additional room to the west of the first floor of the milk shed.
Main Door to Hay Mow
The barn is of traditional post and beam construction. It has 3 bays in the upper level with a single bay in the lower level. There are 4 stalls in the lower level. The barn was part of a working farm until the early 1970s. There still is a portion of the hen house on the property. Our neighbors tell us the farm raised cattle, a few horses and even foxes.
The Chicken Coop - Now a Storage Shed
Needless to say, the barn needed a lot work. There were drainage problems near the south side behind the addition; it was missing siding, doors and windows; it had rotted flooring in the second floor of the milk shed, and there were no stairs to the second level from the first level. The barn was filthy. It still had hay in the mow that had scraps of newspapers in it from the 1960s. There were dead birds in the barn and bird and bat droppings everywhere.
There is a remnant of a silo ring on the east side of the barn which was filled in with debris and weeds. Needless-to-say, I’ve spent a lot of time the past few years getting the barn back in shape and useable. Follow along and I’ll let you know what I’ve done and learned.
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