Day 1: This lovely image is what we saw when we first bought the house.  If we were thinking straight (if that's even possible), we would have had it burned to the ground immediately.

 

And here it is... the lovely original barn.   Probably constructed in the early 1920's, based upon its materials and techniques, as compared to the rest of the house.  You can also see the remnants of an old hearth/foundation in the center of the back yard area.

 

First year:  To make a long story short, here is the same original barn after a face lift, tummy tuck, and make-up.  Actually, it was pretty cute... not unlike a postcard.

Spring 2003:  The big decision has been made, the original barn has to go.  Here is a photo after we hauled out everything we'd crammed inside and started to remove the planks.  It was a pole barn without the poles going into the ground.  Very unstable at this point.  If fell with a tap from the backhoe.

 

Week 1 new barn: Out with the old, in with the new.  Here, the site has been leveled, gravel brought in, really deep 5 foot holes dug, and massive 6x10 inch poles positioned into place.

 

Week 2:  Already the trusses are being put up.  The poles are now all well buried into the ground.  This is us (Dave & Clay) posing for the moment.

 

A wide angle shot of the trusses going up.

Week 3: The roof is going up fast.

 

Now you can see the cupola having been added to the roof top.

 

Week 4: The sides go up.  Here, the trick is to use "cheap" building material, and then add the battens later to make it look like the original 'board & batten' style barn.

 

A wide angle shot.  The 12x12 foot doors have yet to be installed.  Already, we've got the trailer inside.  Fits nicely.

 

Late spring 2003: Work has started on the interior.  The plan was to sheet rock and wainscot the walls, then paint the floor.  This is Clay in the back, dwarfed by the massive 1200 sq. ft. interior.

 

Did I ever mention I hate to sheet rock.  This is Dave (I think) through all the dust.  You can see the addition of the wainscoting to get the traditional farm "X's".

 

With the dust cleared, we can begin to see how things are looking.  This is us (Clay & Dave) after a long night of sanding and prep work.  For the finished room, see the last photo.

Early summer 2003: When the interior complete and the weather finally getting nice, its time to finish the exterior.  Here is the the final attachment to the new barn being constructed - a small wood shed 'lean to'.  It hangs from the other small lawn equipment building we made last year.

 

In the course of a week, we got the wood shed complete and began painting.  Here it is on day one of painting.  Notice that during the Spring, we got the landscaping started around the perimeter.

 

To keep with the traditional "X's" theme, we painted the barn doors with a mask that looks like the real thing.  From the street, you can't tell the difference.  This exercise saved thousands of dollars from buying custom doors that would have this feature.

 

Almost done.  What we did was to mask the areas to be white (the color of the door) then just paint the red background.  After the paint dries, peel away the tape, and its done!

 

Group photo after a long day's work.  This is (from left to right) Dave, Clay, Brian, and Tom.  This gives you some perspective as to the size of the new barn.  The original could have fit through the door on the right.

 

Here is a shot from our sitting area next to the side of the house. 

 

Another view from the side of the house.  You can see the cupola.  Still need to get the weathervane and put it up.  You can see the addition of the faux windows on the side.  These are the original pane windows from the house (circa 1890-1928)

 

July 14 2003
The barn is officially complete.  Here is one last wide angle glamour shot.  Still have the minor task of putting doors on the wood shed, and filling it with wood.