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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

Van Dell, you are probably already familiar with his reearch , if not google 
Howard Marshall along with barns....bobford


--- On Tue, 6/24/08, VAN DELL JORDAN <vdjor AT yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: VAN DELL JORDAN <vdjor AT yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Homestead] Barns was: tobacco and pipes
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 9:45 AM
> I am envious of the barn some friends have acquired. 
> They found a farm being sold and bought the 4 acres
> that contained the farmstead.  There is an old barn
> set into a slope, animals kept on ground floor dug
> half into the hill and the main floor has drive in
> double doors on the other side of the barn.  I don't
> understand why there were so few barns built like that
> in this area.
> The ground floor walls are stone, with clay(?) for
> mortar, at least it looks, feels, and tastes like clay
> so short of analysis....
> The beams holding up the main floor are hand hewn,
> though I think the wall and floor boards are from a
> saw mill.
> The loft is to one side, almost like a mezzanine.  The
> area between the big doors is open to the roof,
> perhaps to allow pitching hay from a wagon into the
> loft, though perhaps the rest of the main floor except
> the drive area was for storing hay and that loft may
> be just a way to use the space above a grain bin. 
> Opposite the drive in doors on the main floor is
> another pair of large doors but the sill on these is
> at least six feet off the ground.  Since I see no sign
> of ever a way to drive up through that door, my guess
> is that it might have been for winnowing grain.  
> I know at one point that was how grain was separated
> doors on both sides of the threshing floor to let
> breezes carry the chaff away.
> My guess is that this barn goes back to at least civil
> war.  So far they've shown no interest in letting me
> dismantle in order to rebuild at my place.  I guess
> the fact that they value this shows why we are
> friends.
> I am interested of course in any information about
> this or questions that I might want to look into.  I
> am an amateur architect and history buff so I read and
> study this sort of this a lot, though not
> systematically.  Most of the barns that I have
> personal experience with dated from about 1900.  Most
> buildings around here older that were replaced before
> my time.  Now most of what I remember has been
> replaced with structures that are modern, practical
> (at least in today's world) and very mundane....
> Oh yes the owner is now a subscriber to this group, so
> welcome and feel free to add any comments.
> Van Dell
> 
> 
> --- Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:
>  but it's a pity that 
> > there's no practical reason to preserve the old
> > barns any longer.  And they 
> > are slowly falling to the ground.
> > 
> > Many of the barns had cow stalls and dairies on the
> > ground level, but keeping 
> > dairly animals is about gone too.
> > 
> 
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