What I did on my Summer Vacation
If you go by this entry, you'd think all I did was look at barns. I took a lot of pictures of barns while I was back east, mostly because my mum and Bill discovered a barn tour that happened to be taking place on the Saturday that I was visiting. I'm really pleased (and a little surprised) by how well some of my pictures turned out. I selected what I felt were the most interesting to show here. Looking back at everything, though, I'm amused that I pretty much failed to get complete exterior shots of... any of the barns, really. I was a little too focused on some of the details, but when you're dealing with buildings over 100 years old, the details can be pretty impressive.
Not hiding this one behind the cut because it was the one that I was most happy to get to see up close. This barn is situated in such a way that it is highly visible from route 15, and I always marveled at the brickwork (Yes, that is ALL brick-- except for the little cement tablet at the top). This tour was my chance to see it up close and go inside... and for all that and more, you can go behind the cut. The photos appear in order of the barns as we visited them.
This is one of those hardware shots I was talking about...
Same barn as the one with the gorgeous brick exterior-- this is underneath, and despite it being June, it was still a little chilly here-- which makes sense. this was probably originally used as a sort of root cellar.
Another detail shot. I had a fixation with rafters and thresholds on this trip... you won't see the thresholds, though-- they don't really translate well.
This was a much smaller barn, but still had the brickwork I found fascinating. The wholes were left for ventilation.
This is what we call creative re-use. These license plates date back to the mid 1920's.
The exterior of a barn that was referred to as the Patchwork Barn, due to the amalgamation that was used in creating the foundation. The slope at the left is the earthen ramp that would be used to haul hay wagons or other heavy items into the barn.
You're right. This isn't a barn. This was the view behind the Patchwork barn, and I was so pleased with how the picture turned out that I just had to include it.
This gives you a better idea of how the barn earned the nickname of 'Patchwork.'
This barn was right across the road from the Patchwork barn. Both are owned by the same family (as was the one with the adaptive reuse of license plates). This is the lower level, where there is a system of holding stalls and walkways that are part of the family's beef operation. It is also home to several barn swallows.
This was set into the wall on the lower level of the barn housing beef operations. I have no idea as to the function, but thought that it looked spiffy.
this is the upper floor of that same barn. I was quite impressed with the warping of the wood.
While the largest of the brick barns may have made me happiest, this barn is closer to my heart for reasons that have nothing to do with it save for the family that owns it. First, about the barn-- Of the ones on this tour, this one was the one undergoing the most in the way of restoration. They had to bring in masons to rebuild the foundation in places, and I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you where the original foundation ended and their work began.
These were probably the most decorative of support beams I saw on the whole tour.
Now, for the other side of this barn's story. It stands on the property of a beautiful Victorian home, built in the early 1800's for a poet who was a professor at St. Joseph's in Emmitsburg. The house itself has it's own chapel, and I've heard stories of a ballroom on the second floor. Of course, all of this is quite impressive in itself, especially for an old-buildings geek like me. My story doesn't end there, though. The house and barn are owned by a family who have had the home for several generations. The oldest member of that family is still living in the house in her own set of rooms along with her neice and nephew who are overseen the restoration. This lovely lady is someone I remember from childhood, as she and her sister sang in the choir of the church in which I was baptized. As it happened, she was sitting out on the porch when we arrived at the barn, and so my mother and Bill and I got a chance to visit with her. She was in wonderful spirits and it was a joy to be able to speak with her, if only for a few minutes.
There were other barns on the tour, but by the time we were done here, the tour would be ending in an hour, and so we decided that it would be a far far better thing to find icecream and go to the Goodwill in Thurmont, which kept later hours.
Not hiding this one behind the cut because it was the one that I was most happy to get to see up close. This barn is situated in such a way that it is highly visible from route 15, and I always marveled at the brickwork (Yes, that is ALL brick-- except for the little cement tablet at the top). This tour was my chance to see it up close and go inside... and for all that and more, you can go behind the cut. The photos appear in order of the barns as we visited them.
This is one of those hardware shots I was talking about...
Same barn as the one with the gorgeous brick exterior-- this is underneath, and despite it being June, it was still a little chilly here-- which makes sense. this was probably originally used as a sort of root cellar.
Another detail shot. I had a fixation with rafters and thresholds on this trip... you won't see the thresholds, though-- they don't really translate well.
This was a much smaller barn, but still had the brickwork I found fascinating. The wholes were left for ventilation.
This is what we call creative re-use. These license plates date back to the mid 1920's.
The exterior of a barn that was referred to as the Patchwork Barn, due to the amalgamation that was used in creating the foundation. The slope at the left is the earthen ramp that would be used to haul hay wagons or other heavy items into the barn.
You're right. This isn't a barn. This was the view behind the Patchwork barn, and I was so pleased with how the picture turned out that I just had to include it.
This gives you a better idea of how the barn earned the nickname of 'Patchwork.'
This barn was right across the road from the Patchwork barn. Both are owned by the same family (as was the one with the adaptive reuse of license plates). This is the lower level, where there is a system of holding stalls and walkways that are part of the family's beef operation. It is also home to several barn swallows.
This was set into the wall on the lower level of the barn housing beef operations. I have no idea as to the function, but thought that it looked spiffy.
this is the upper floor of that same barn. I was quite impressed with the warping of the wood.
While the largest of the brick barns may have made me happiest, this barn is closer to my heart for reasons that have nothing to do with it save for the family that owns it. First, about the barn-- Of the ones on this tour, this one was the one undergoing the most in the way of restoration. They had to bring in masons to rebuild the foundation in places, and I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you where the original foundation ended and their work began.
These were probably the most decorative of support beams I saw on the whole tour.
Now, for the other side of this barn's story. It stands on the property of a beautiful Victorian home, built in the early 1800's for a poet who was a professor at St. Joseph's in Emmitsburg. The house itself has it's own chapel, and I've heard stories of a ballroom on the second floor. Of course, all of this is quite impressive in itself, especially for an old-buildings geek like me. My story doesn't end there, though. The house and barn are owned by a family who have had the home for several generations. The oldest member of that family is still living in the house in her own set of rooms along with her neice and nephew who are overseen the restoration. This lovely lady is someone I remember from childhood, as she and her sister sang in the choir of the church in which I was baptized. As it happened, she was sitting out on the porch when we arrived at the barn, and so my mother and Bill and I got a chance to visit with her. She was in wonderful spirits and it was a joy to be able to speak with her, if only for a few minutes.
There were other barns on the tour, but by the time we were done here, the tour would be ending in an hour, and so we decided that it would be a far far better thing to find icecream and go to the Goodwill in Thurmont, which kept later hours.