A Different Sort of Barn Raising

This has been a great year for barns! One of current projects – restoring the Tobias Walker barn – is well underway. We are grateful that the new owners of this historical property appreciated the significance of renovating this 1852 barn which is located on a large parcel of farmland in Kennebunk. The history of this farm is well documented in a book written by Thomas C. Hubka: “Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn”. The book’s focus is on the gradual architectural shift of connecting farmhouses to smaller structures (back houses) and barns in this region during the Nineteenth century. Tobias Walker and his family worked this farm successfully for over 100 years; continually expanding and improving the buildings on the property. Following a few years of planning, the hiring of expert timber-framers and the methodic process of preparing hand hewn beams, cutting mortise and tenon joinery, and building a stone foundation, the barn was raised in the spring of 1852 with a customary neighborhood barn raising celebration. When the barn was finished the following year it was striking due to its size and the white paint.  According to the author, the barn reflected not only Tobias Walker’s prosperity but also that he was progressive and a modern farmer. The 38’ x 62’ timber frame is still in solid condition with the initial major restoration work focused on building a new foundation, installing new sills and replacing the bottom portion of some posts with new material using doubled bladed scarf joints. This will give the barn the stability it needs for the more cosmetic repairs to follow. To accomplish these tasks we are having a barn raising of a different sort. The barn has been raised several feet into the air supported by steel i-beams set on cribbing while the area beneath the barn’s perimeter is excavated for new the new foundation.

Rebuilding Old Barn Cupolas

Some of our most enjoyable projects are the smaller, detailed jobs where we are able to use ingenuity and creativity to get the job done. We recently were hired to rebuild three cupolas on a barn in Scarborough that was being restored by the owners.

The original cupolas had exceeded their lifecycle and needed to be completely removed and rebuilt. A crane service assisted us in removing the original cupolas and we transported them to our Freeport shop where we carefully measured and drafted plans for the new cupolas.

Louvers for barn cupolaRight down to the custom louvers – we are hand crafting the new cupolas. Careful measuring and various compound cuts were required to fit them perfectly together. Mahogany and Azek are the materials of choice due to their ability to endure exposure to the weather. Maine Paint Service worked with us to match the historical paint color from the original structure and we have painted the mahogany surfaces an interesting shade of green, called Albuquerque Turquoise.Timber Framer working on cupola

Once the new cupolas were completed in our Freeport shop we carefully loaded them onto our truck for transportation to the site where the roofs were shingled and placed back onto the barn by crane. We have since been contracted to replace the barn doors with newly constructed doors.

Please read our post about that project as well!