Deconstruction of a Dream….Barn Renovation Part I

Our carriage barn dates from 1790 and had never been used as livable space until now and this is our journey of how we made it habitable. Some time just before 1830 the carriage barn was attached to our home via a mudroom with an extra room above. We know it was just before 1830 because of the way the boards had been hand planed. We had originally intended for the barn to be our new master suite but the size, over 1300 square feet, made it a little to big for our needs so the husband graciously offered it up to me to be used as my new studio for my business.

The barn creates an ell off our home and this end faces down our driveway and is visible from the street. Not much presence with those small windows and sea of white clapboard. There is an issue of water to be addressed with the barn. You can see at the right of the picture, the back part of the barn, the ground level starts almost half way up the barn. See all those stacked stones, that’s holding earth, the barn was built on the side of a mountain.

So time for the carnage to begin so we can go about creating this girls dream!

Day one the guys had the clapboards ripped off and the windows removed and our barn had never looked more dark and forlorn.

Opposite end of our barn that faces out into our backyard and forest, if you look to the left of the picture you can see how much the land is tiered with stonewalls. The lower part of the barn was more then likely used as a chicken coop at one time from the evidence we found under the floor, it’s now my husbands wood working shop. Notice that huge granite slab on the ground, that’s going out front and the thing weighs so much it was lifting the back end of the excavator off the ground. You can also see evidence of more water damage where the barn connects to the house, one beam was all but gone from deterioration.  

Inside the barn facing out to the street, aside from the windows being removed our contractors haven’t touched this area yet. This is how it looked when we purchased our home.

Opposite end of the barn, this end faces out to the backyard.

This view and the picture below is of the area above the mudroom, the part that connects the barn to our home, we loving call it the Annex. This room sits 3/4 of the way back from the street front of the barn.

Man it just makes me itchy seeing this picture there was old cellulose insulation in that roof and the guys were hacking up a lung after yanking it down. That door leads into my husbands office and our home.  Even though you see two heat vents near the door trust me there was no heat since those vents led to nothing, literally!

This is a view looking out the back of the barn, the wide opening had two wide doors so carriages and buggies could be rolled into the barn. Look through that opening and you can see the land starts to go up, that area is all forest.

A shot looking from one end to the other, the annex is to the right up two small steps. That board standing up in the middle of the room was the old staircase and it’s gone!

A shot towards the front of the house overlooking the front yard.

And there you have it the start of my dream…a real studio! But if you think the carnage and mayhem is over you haven’t seen anything yet! I hope you've enjoyed seeing the start of my dream and will continue to follow for weeks to come as my studio becomes a reality!