Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Not Much Hope

This is the south side of the barn on the house we are buying.  It's got warts...great big ones. Unfortunately, after two structural engineers looked at it along with countless contractors, it appears there's not much hope of saving it.  It has seen 110 years in it's long and productive life. 

It's a true post and beam, not the bolted kind that just uses the bolts and brackets, but the real deal.  Most of the beams are in phenomenal shape for a barn of this age and life, all it's lines are clean and square.  But somewhere along the way, an owner allowed large holes to form in the roof and years of water damage have sent some of these beams to need to be replaced or reinforced.  That's before the new rafters, sub roof and roofing need to go on.  This barn is quite large, and the roof alone is cost prohibitive, but needing structural work is beyond our means.  It's very savable, but not for us financially.  As it's been for sale for over a year, no one else seems to want to tackle it. We're so incredibly sad to be having to make this decision.  It's a true piece of American history, and certainly one we're sure our little agricultural town would love to see saved.  We wanted to make it into a space where friends and musicians could gather and enjoy music together in a wondeful atmosphere, something Music Man has always wanted.  And a dream I really want to help him realize.

Short of a miracle windfall, we don't see how it's possible to save it.

Very sad today, ~Peacemom

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Vonnie,

I'm curious about your barn. We're looking for an old barn to reconstruct on our property, or at least salvage some materials from...

What are your plans for demolition? Would you consider having us salvage some beams and other materials?? I totally understand if it's more of a hassle than you're looking for, or if you have other plans that would preclude it.

Thanks,
Ben