Barn Raiser
Many of you know that Jason has an intense work ethic and a gift for making seemingly insane projects happen in record time. Here’s his latest project!
He found this barn on Craigslist four hours away (near Trimont where I grew up) and all the stars aligned for it to be ours... as long as he pitched all the hay out and took it down piece by piece and figured out how to move it to our farm.
After four days he and one friend have succeeded in getting all the siding off and hay pitched out. Along the way he met a granddaughter of the original owner of the farm (who happened to be visiting from California) who shared that the barn was built in 1880 and moved to the current site on a new brick foundation in the 40s. It’s in amazing condition. Upon getting enough hay out to finally see the floor boards, it turns out they are likely redwood!
He also met an 83 year old neighbor who has taken down and reassembled over 40 barns, grainaries, sheds, and coops, and has the heavy equipment for the bigger tasks ahead of getting down the roof and framing, and offered to help!
We haven’t fully fleshed out what we’ll use the barn for, but Jason is in love with it and says it feels like church inside. These barns are being bulldozed at record pace these days as fewer and fewer small farms keep livestock and can justify the cost of maintaining them. The wood alone is worth preserving, but to pull off keeping this barn in its original state feels like an honoring of the many hands that made it and the mouths it fed.
