Show us yours if you have one.

[953 nut 59,720]

 

This special day may have been created for  @AlexR. On Barn Day, celebrated on July 13, we pay homage to the heart of every farm. Sometimes built even before the main house, they are historically the center of the farm, usually accommodating animals, grain, hay, and equipment. In fact, the word ‘barn’ originates from the Old English word for ‘bere,’ or barely, and ‘aem,’ which means storage space.

 

 

Edited Sunday at 12:37 PM by 953 nut

[ebinmaine 72,346]

I love old barns. And new barns.  

[c-series don 9,962]

Every time I see an old barn I wonder what it must have looked like when it was new, and how long it was in its heyday or hay day! And of course the stories it could tell. 

[ebinmaine 72,346]

48 minutes ago, c-series don said:

Every time I see an old barn I wonder what it must have looked like when it was new, and how long it was in its heyday or hay day! And of course the stories it could tell. 

 

 

Make a trip to our area. We have barns from shed sized to gargantuan.  200+ years to new like mine. 

 

There's a very large barn up the mountain from us that was originally tied to the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow family. The Wadsworth side has a long history here.  

Its architecture is unusual because of the ornate nature but very subtle. 

 

To this day it's still beautifully maintained.  

 

[lynnmor 7,787]

52 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Make a trip to our area. We have barns from shed sized to gargantuan.  200+ years to new like mine. 

 

Any of those houses with attached barns in your area?  I have seen numerous ones in Maine and since we passed them snowmobiling it became readily apparent that building that way made life and work much easier in winter.

[Handy Don 13,958]

The home-attached barn architecture started in Germany and is very common in Bavaria. That design continues even today in new construction to conserve space as well as to make access in bad weather convenient. 

[Beap52 1,386]

I don't have an old barn but about twelve years ago I remodeled one.  Google "Round barn on clear creek LLC"  then go to "gallery" and you'll see one of the projects I was lead carpenter on.  We (myself, my helper and the owner) worked there 9 months.  We removed all of the original floor joists in this eight sided barn and replaced them to bring them up to code.  The three of us laid and finished the 4,500 square feet of oak flooring.  (I started us in the center of the barn and laid outwards towards the walls.  We chalked lines on the subfloor every five feet so we would end up parallel  to the outside walls.)   The owner hired a portable sawmill to cut down 30 oak trees so we would have lumber to strengthen the sagging rafters.  

 

Originally the barn was open on one side.  A team of horses pulling hay (that went up to the loft--that now houses the HVAC) or corn that was thrown into the corn crib (that is now removed)  then the horses completed the circle and came out of the door they entered.  Below the main floor, was where the animals were kept and fed.  

 

I'll be 73 three years old this year and I'll never get the chance nor have the stamina to take on such a project.   It was sure fun at the time.

[EB-80/8inPA 1,844]

1 hour ago, lynnmor said:

Any of those houses with attached barns in your area?  I have seen numerous ones in Maine and since we passed them snowmobiling it became readily apparent that building that way made life and work much easier in winter.

They were great until a hay fire broke out in the barn and took the house with it.  I don’t think too much hay is being stored in them these days, though.  I would love to have one of those old places.  Plenty of space for Wheelhorses!

[Handy Don 13,958]

3 minutes ago, EB-80/8inPA said:

They were great until a hay fire broke out in the barn and took the house with it.  I don’t think too much hay is being stored in them these days, though.  I would love to have one of those old places.  Plenty of space for Wheelhorses!

Science has re-shaped hay and silage storage methods which has dramatically reduced the danger of fire (and other bad things). 

[ri702bill 9,334]

Hey @Handy Don - next time you are in Dedham, check out The Boston Lightning Rod Company on East Street. They are over 150 years old, lots of old buildings & barns still standing because of their products... Samples of their products are on the building and about the property... You know what the decorative glass globes are really for???

Bill

Edited Sunday at 10:04 PM by ri702bill

[Handy Don 13,958]

7 minutes ago, ri702bill said:

You know what the decorative glass slobes are really for???

Yep. They’d typically break if the rod was hit by lightning. If the rod did it’s job, it was proof!

[squonk 43,705]

When I was 4 we moved to a big house in the village. It was owned by the owners of a local feed mill. There was what  was called a "carriage barn" there.  A section for a carriage and a section for horses. There were several rooms inside for tack and 5 stalls. an indoor corral and an outside corral out back. 2nd floor was for hay storage but the owners had chickens turkeys and whatever else up there at some point. I ended up chipping all of the dried up hay and manure that was on the floor and made a large basketball court and bb gun shooting gallery up there. The tack room became our neighborhood football team locker room and I kept the 604 we had in the corral. How fitting. 

 

[ebinmaine 72,346]

3 hours ago, lynnmor said:

Any of those houses with attached barns in your area?  I have seen numerous ones in Maine and since we passed them snowmobiling it became readily apparent that building that way made life and work much easier in winter.

 

Absolutely.   Literal dozens of places built that way.  Maybe hundreds still....

 

So much more people friendly during heat/cold/ rain etc.  

 

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 28,302]

People living in barns... fun anecdote:

 

"Raining cats and dogs" originated from cats and dogs sleeping on the thatched roofs of old barns / cabins... when it rained hard they got slippery and fell off... 

[Ed Kennell 41,770]

Not mine, but I am fascinated with the structure of the Round Barn locater near the Big Show.

[c-series don 9,962]

@Ed Kennell My wife goes there every year when we go to the Big Show! They sell all kinds of things there. 

[Ed Kennell 41,770]

The central silo is the supporting member.

[EB-80/8inPA 1,844]

7 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

The central silo is the supporting member.

 

Geometry is a beautiful thing.
 

 

[rjg854 12,151]

This the one I built in 2003

[rjg854 12,151]

Got a little Horse barn too 

[953 nut 59,720]

Our place came with a two horse barn that is now home to a few projects awaiting completion. It was built around 1920 a cording to some locals.