Bank Barn Restoration
Growing up on our farm, our barn was used much like a suburban family might use a garage. We utilized the interior space to store sports equipment, lawnmowers, and swim floats for the pond. Our dad even mounted a basketball hoop in the covered addition where we would climb over hay bales to go play games of HORSE. It was always dusty, crumbly, and full of hay, and as kids, we never really appreciated the historic value.
Shortly after we inherited the farm, we explored the farm buildings we grew up with, looking for relics of our childhood and excavating memories. As we explored the barn, we quickly began to realize there was so much historic value hidden behind piles of junk and mounds of hay. Looking beyond the clutter, we began to notice hand-carved wooden door latches, pegged joinery, strap hinges, hand tool marks, and more. The barn is not as “polished” as the house, and I think that’s what makes it such an incredible piece of history – you can actually see the work that went into it. It’s almost hard to imagine a family in the early 1800s building such a massive structure with minimal tools and no heavy equipment.
The stable doors and large forebay had been covered with a lean-to addition since the mid 1900s, but the other three sides of the barn, being regularly exposed to the elements, were really struggling with decay, rot, and insect damage. The windward side of the barn had barely any siding left, leaving the interior log structure exposed and susceptible to damage. The front right section – the granary – was sagging at least two feet as the pillar supports decayed and slipped down the bank. We knew we needed to start restoration, but we had to get The Woodward up and running so we didn’t go bankrupt in the process. It would be several years before we were in a financial position to begin the barn restoration. In the meantime, we began removing trees and bamboo that were way too close to the structure and cleaning out the underside by the stables.
In 2025, we were finally able to commit to beginning restoration. We knew we needed siding and some foundation repairs. It was suggested that we reach out to the lumber company that supplies rough-cut barn siding to see if they had any recommendations on a company that could take on this massive project. Through Martin’s Native Lumber, we found Grand View Construction, and what an amazing find! They have handled our entire barn restoration and a few more smaller projects around the farm, and we couldn’t be happier with their work.
During the first phase of restoration, the old siding was removed one side at a time (and preserved to be sent to Appalachian Woods). Then structural repairs were made, wood-to-ground contacts were removed, and concrete footers were poured. The sagging granary was jacked up several feet and supported with new footers and pillars. New rough-cut pine board-and-batten siding was installed, and then new sliding doors were built on-site with tongue-and-groove pine lumber. Large-capacity gutters and downspouts were added to keep water away from the foundation.
In the last weeks of 2025, our first phase of restoration wrapped, and the barn was solid enough to survive another winter. In spring of 2026, we asked Grand View Construction to return to the barn and expand the usable concrete floor space, as well as replace the missing flooring and beams in the overhang above. They were able to convert a dirt floor and feed trough into floor space and a bench that runs the length of the barn. In the spring we had the new pine siding stained and the metal roof restored and painted by Muterspaugh Painting.
Just when we thought we were in the clear, Caroline noticed a massive termite swarm on the east wall, and we learned that the northeast corner was home to a huge termite colony. Luckily, we have a great pest management company (Ladybugs LLC), and we were able to have treatments done and now will continue monitoring for activity. The last barn project of 2026 was the stable door restoration. Caroline was able to find reproduction strap hinges and pintles that matched the ghost marks from the missing originals. Some repairs needed to be made to the existing doors, but others were completely missing, and reproductions had to be built from scratch. Caroline was able to use some of the original siding to build replacement doors and then mixed a custom milk paint wash to match the original doors.
There is still more work to do on the barn. The limestone foundation needs repointing, and the upstairs could stand some flooring repairs, but the barn is solid, and we can use it as a gathering space. It hosted summer camps in June and July and our very first wedding in October. We are about to host a Saturday Workshop and a Sunday Supper in the gathering space as well. Our BarnRaiser t-shirt campaign is still running on Bonfire if you’d like to support our restoration work, and attending any of our ticketed events helps support our future projects!
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