In late 2004 I was out at a client's site and noticed a group of three old barns. The client mentioned that they were going to have all of the buildings leveled in the course of preparing the land for a different use. I had been thinking about constructing a garden shed that looked old and resembled my grandpa's shanty.
I mentioned that I might be able to sell one of the barns on ebay if in return I could have another one myself for free. I listed the longer collapsed one and a couple of fellows bought it and came out and partially dismantled it. I went to work then removing the barn that I wanted. The main part was 12x12 and probably 14 feet tall. There were a couple additions that had been made as well.
I was driving an old 1986 Ford F150 pickup at the time and after work I would go over to the site and take more of the barn apart. I saved the tin roof and all the old nails and eventually hauled everything off and stored it on the back porch.
Back at the house I picked out a spot and tried to position the foundation in such a way that it would look like maybe the shed was there way before the house. Flat rocks were used at the corners to support the floor frame. I built it back as a 12x9 building with a 3 foot overhang covering the porch. The doorways and windows were positioned to mimic grandpa's shanty even though his building was way bigger.
The same bells that were on the door of his shanty hang on this door and I found a big square rock to serve as the stoop just like he had. The porch is made up of antique bricks and the old tin roof and nails where used again. I ran power out to the shed and installed a circular cantilevered work bench out of a scrap wood I found at the client's site.
Growing on the barn is an evergreen clematis and a climbing hydrangea. There are some eclectic birdhouses mounted on the back. Iris and autumn fern and azaleas surround the base. The project was completed in early 2005.
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