Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Barn Charm: The Rest Of The Story...

Omigosh! I got so busy outside all day that I nearly forgot it's Tuesday and time for Tricia's Barn Charm. I've been so excited to tell you this story that I can't believe I nearly forgot to post it. If it weren't for the chigger bites, I'd probably still be out there - so I guess I'm thankful for chigger bites???

Maybe you remember when I posted this open air barn to Barn Charm sometime in March.
A majestic old barn not far from Le Rustique in the heart of
Smallville, between Rosebud & Owensville.
Well a couple weeks ago, Big Daddy made his tractor decision and purchased a New Holland from Rosebud Tractor Company, owned by brothers John and Matt Estes. When Matt delivered the tractor and the all-important implements Big Daddy couldn't live without, he spent a few hours with us talking Tractor 101 and the virtues of brush hogging. And how can you have that conversation without talking about farms?  John and Matt both live within minutes of us where, in addition to running their tractor business, they also raise cattle with their dad on the original family farm.

As soon as Matt described how they can watch 4th of July fireworks from four different towns up on the big hill where the power line runs behind their old abandoned barn, my brain clicked into gear. "That's your barn?" I squealed. [Well, I'm not really a squealer, but I was pretty excited just the same.]

Big Daddy and I told him about Missouri BARN Alliance and Tricia's Barn Charm. And then - Sweet Serendipity, How I Love You! - he invited us to "go on up there and take all the old wood you want, just be careful it doesn't fall down on you, and call John at the store ahead of time so he can alert Dad so he won't have to get off his new toy [a bulldozer] to come check on you."

And of course we took him up on his offer.
We drove up from behind and realized it's even more air-conditioned than we thought.

This door immediately caught my eye, and my mind
began racing for ways to use it  fully intact.

Here's Big Daddy assessing access to the hayloft.

And here's the hay loft, complete with collapsed hay bales and growing grass.
But still, the structure is beautiful to me.

All those reachable gorgeous weathered planks are still pretty
well-protected beneath  tightly secured tin panels.

Another door, more tin panels - and aren't those panels interesting?
 
And here is why it wasn't possible to start dismantling
tin panels to retrieve those upper planks - the
whole thing might have collapsed on us.


Here is the sum of what we took. There are five doors with rotted
bottoms and a handful of odd-sized pieces of loose wood.

The haul is stacked in our barn. I love, love, love
the color of weathered barn wood.

Five doors awaiting a new purpose.
Of course I had to ask Matt why they stopped using that old barn and why so many Missouri barns like it have been left to deteriorate. His explanations made sense, so I did a little historical research - and to keep this blog from becoming the size of War and Peace, I'll write about in the next day or two.

When I sent my thank-you note, I told John & Matt to call us as soon as the wind takes it down so Big Daddy and I can come help them clean up, stack wood and, of course, get a few of those long straight planks. As exciting as that would be, in my heart I hope the old barn stands in defiance forever.

Linking up with Tricia's

Barn Charm ♥86♥



16 comments:

  1. That is so COOL that they let you salvage! Freaking awesome! Congrats on the doors! I've seen people turn them into coffee or kitchen tables, depending on the size.

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  2. amen to that, but i know it'll come down eventually. in the meantime, glad you were able to salvage some great pieces (with more to come!)

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  3. so glad some parts of this old gem will live on!

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  4. A barn collander! :-) I can see why you would be interested in salvaging and re-purposing some of this barn material, especially the doors--and side boards. Good luck with your projects. That loaded truck looks a lot like work to me. . .

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  5. Lucky you that you were able to salvage the doors along with some other boards. It will be interesting to see what you do with them. I am happy when people want to use the wood from falling down barns.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog and your nice comment.

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  6. How wonderful you got to get some up close shots!
    I'd love to have that old door. I would just make it 'door' in my woods. :)
    The tin caught my eye. It's rather fancy to be on a barn. I hope you get some of that.
    Looking forward to seeing how you repurpose what you retrieved.

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  7. I can't wait to see what you do with those doors. Treasures.

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  8. My heart was just racing with excitment through this whole post! It is just beautiful. I LOVE those doors! You are so lucky. I can't wait to see what you do with them. What wonderful treasures!

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  9. What a wonderful opportunity! So happy for you. Looking forward to the rest of the story... :)

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  10. Lucky you. The next best thing to saving the structure is to save its parts.

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  11. *SQUEAL* You may not be a squealer, but I'll do it for you!!! Awesome! I'd sooo love to have one of those ol barn doors... I plan to put 2 of my mom's horse barn gates together (one on top of the other) & put on a slider for my bathroom door!
    I'm sooo glad all that wood will be repurposed! Congratulation!

    Very cool post & thanks so much for sharing w/ us at Barn Charm!!! Very exciting!!! =)

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  12. Terrific post! I'm glad that you got some pieces of that old relic. Can't wait to see what you do with them! I love the look of barn siding. A co-worker of my hubby has barn siding in his rec room and it looks great.

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  13. When you showed the backside being all 'bones', I wondered who else might have re-purposed some of it. :o)

    It is beyond great that you were able to get the doors and some of the loose wood.
    I know what you mean. Common sense tells me that the out building on the farm, and probably the barn, too, can't be saved; but I worry that when we tear them down, a part of what makes it special will be lost.

    Does that make me crazy? Maybe so, haha! Glad you were able to update about the barn. That is just wonderful! :o)

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  14. i LOVE this story, i just LOVE this story. and the way you told it, i was hanging on your every word!!

    awesome score on the wood, i can't wait for part two!!

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  15. With all of your dedication and love toward old barns, those old doors went right into the best hands possible! I can only imagine how exciting this must have been!

    Lana

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  16. Love every bit of this post. I actually think I know where this barn is. But, I am over the top to learn that we live so close. I actually posted some yard art that I found in Rosebud for Pink Saturday.

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