I once designed, and built, a combination log cabin and stone home. Over the next few days I’d like to share with you how it all came about.

I was contacted by a client who just loved the little log cabins that I most often build… you know… the ones featuring a family room downstairs with a fireplace, a bedroom above, and a small kitchen lean-to off of the back.

But these clients wanted more rooms… they wanted a dining room, a large screened porch, and a small office area. And, this is what I came up with.

The log cabin gives them their family area complete with a fireplace and a bedroom above. The stone area gives them a nice dining area with a little kitchen coming off of the back of that.

The screen porch is off of the back of the cabin… and a little office space can be found on the far side of the cabin.

Originally posted 2015-03-19 16:48:47.

I have one last photo of this barn to share with you.

This one was taken a few years after the barn was rebuilt. As you can see the barn has now “aged into the land”. People who visit her today can no longer clearly remember when she was not part of the landscape.

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to save this barn. It was so enjoyable to participate in raising each and every log and to drive in all those pegs which hold her so tightly together.

This barn was on a fast path to becoming lost forever where she originally stood. Perhaps someone would have bought her and used the logs to build a log home with them. More likely, someone would have bought her and sawed all the logs up for lumber and made furniture out of the wood.

But, as fate would have it, there was someone in this world that wanted an old barn on their property, and now, they have one. This barn was saved, as a barn. Imagine that.

And I… well, I… had the time of my life. I, still to this day, have special feelings towards this barn. As you can likely tell.

I thank you for letting me share the tale of this double pen, chestnut, barn. If you have enjoyed hearing about it a tenth as much as I have enjoyed sharing then we are all pretty happy people. 🙂

Originally posted 2015-03-19 12:08:07.

Just about finished with rebuilding this barn… the extensions are all now up… and the roofer has come in and installed the standing seam metal roof. All that remains is for us is to clean up the remaining unused stones and take them to our next project.

The barn looks as if it has always been there doesn’t it?

She has a new roof, a new foundation, a new life, and a new owner… one that will take care of her.

All is well in the world.

Originally posted 2015-03-19 11:46:53.

Here’s a close up of one of the mortise and tenon joints that connects the barn’s extensions back to the barn. The joint is all ready for a peg to be inserted which will then lock this joint secure for another century or two.

Originally posted 2015-03-19 11:32:42.

So, now the focus of this double pen barn project is the re-assembly of the extensions, which quickly doubles the square footage of the barn.

If you will, observe how people now have started to congregate under the barn’s roof, even though it is far from being complete.

A barn is shelter for man and beast alike. We are all drawn to them.

Originally posted 2015-03-19 11:26:13.

So many lines.

The logs run one way, and the rafters another.

And then the roof sheathing went on and created yet another set of lines. No one was prepared for the moment the sun came out and overwhelmed the barn with shadows.

The affect wouldn’t last for long. Within a few days we would have a metal roof on top of the barn and “the days of overwhelming shadows” would end… but for a time… it was amazing.

Originally posted 2015-03-18 16:00:30.

We are well on our way (as seen here in this photo) to having the roof sheathed.

“Sheathed” is such a nice word don’t you think? Let those who work in cubicles have their fancy words… builders get to sheath!

If you build houses or barns, every so often you get to spend your day… sheathing.

Up on top of the roof, nailing down one board at time. Life is good. The view of the world around you is great, and the workmanship of all that you have been working on during the past few weeks lies beneath you.

When you arrive home that evening the conversation goes something like this…

“Hi honey, what did you do at work today?”

“Well, I sheathed today… it was a good day.”

“That’s nice, dear”

This barn originally had rough sawn lumber for sheathing. There was no Costco back then where one could load up their truck with plywood for sheathing. And even if there had been a building supply warehouse, plywood would not have been an available option.

I find that over the course of many years that wood becomes baked and brittle lying under a metal roof. So, we replaced the original sheathing with new lumber that I purchased from a nearby sawmill that supplies us with locally harvested lumber. It’s inexpensive to buy, extremely strong, and a pleasure to work with. No plywood sheathing goes on this barn, no sirree.

After it’s all applied we will trim the ends so that they all the same length, in one long pass with the saw.

Notice also in this photo that down at the far end of the barn that we are starting to build one of the barn’s extensions.

Originally posted 2015-03-18 15:40:20.

The masons are working feverishly on the four stone walls that will soon support the coming extensions off of the barn.

I have done my best over the years to always have some kind of stonework going on at my job-sites. I have found that every structure, whether a barn or a home, looks much better if there is stone work incorporated… quality stone work that is… not some glued-on product.

Most people in the construction field like to work with background music being played… more than any other trade or career that I can think of.

Originally posted 2015-03-18 15:01:36.

One last photo of this phase of the barn’s reconstruction… the men are preparing to set the last pair of rafters…

Originally posted 2015-03-18 14:08:49.

I find that visitors to this property often gaze upon this barn as if they are viewing the Parthenon in Greece, or one of the many old Cathedrals in Europe.

Isn’t it amazing that so many people love barns, yet we allow so many to be lost each year?

I notice the absence of them when I drive the roads of this state. I read somewhere a while back that the state of Virginia now only has 10% of the number of barns that she had fifty years ago.

That’s just sad.

Here’s one barn that will be around for a long time to come. Isn’t she beautiful?

Originally posted 2015-03-17 14:39:37.