The Barn Sags......
When discussing the scope of the renovation with our Amish builder he pointed out how the south-facing part of the barn had seen the most wear.
The back of our barn pre-renovation.
When discussing the scope of the renovation with our Amish builder he pointed out how the south-facing part of the barn had seen the most wear. My family has lived at "The Farm" for over 44 years and even dating back to before the previous owner they repaired the roof by adding a slate roof on top of the cedar shake roof. The weight of that roof for over potentially 100 years caused the barn to really sag. As a solution he decided to replace the metal columns holding up the backside of the barn with huge wooden beams. Its hard to even capture how big these beams are in the pictures. He also added some wooden angle supports to finish the space and keep consistent with the rest of the barn. What I love is how they used wooden pegs to put the beams together. Their craftsmanship throughout this process and how quickly they work has been really unbelievable. We are about 6 weeks into the renovation and the barn is really close to being completed, or should I say at least the Amish builders portion. There is still a lot of work to be done to complete the project, but we are really excited with how all of the pieces are coming together. So, now the back of the barn has now received a well needed "lift!"
As we approach "Labor Day" weekend I hope you all take some time to rest, spend time with God, and enjoy your families!
Happy Labor Day!
-Becca & Chris
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30
A bump in Our journey......
The past couple of weeks at "The Farm" have surely been a whirlwind! Between the Barn renovation and the Bakery orders we have been beyond busy. Its been exciting, tiring and fun all in one. The builders are working tirelessly to restore the barn to its glory and these past couple of weeks they have started adding in the windows and some of the siding.
The past couple of weeks at "The Farm" have surely been a whirlwind! Between the Barn renovation and the Bakery orders we have been beyond busy. Its been exciting, tiring, and fun all in one. The builders are working tirelessly to restore the barn to its glory. The past couple of weeks they have started installing in the windows and some of the siding. However, after the first windows were added we realized that they were too big for the spots in between the beams and they ended up cutting some of the beams to make the windows fit. YIKES!!! After taking a look at the end result, we knew we had to go back and fix them. We are very passionate about restoring the Barn, but we also want to keep the integrity of The Barn, including the BIG Beams that make it so fantastic. Its hard to imagine that these beams and the structure of the Barn were built almost 200 years ago. The good news is they have now fixed the beams and we have come up with a solution to ensure the rest of the other beams stay in tact.
The builders were also able to replace one of the big corner beams that had started to rot because of the previous holes in the roof. Its huge and its amazing to see how they can take out the old and replace it with a new huge beam that will provide the support and structure to hopefully keep this barn standing for another 200 years.
We continue to be excited and continue to put all of our faith and trust in God every step of the way. When you go through a renovation of this size there will always be bumps in the road that can cause stress and worry. On Wednesday morning this past week around 7am, my father, Chris and I all joined hands in the Barn and prayed for peace and comfort as well as guidance to get us through the rest of this project. Only God can take all of those fears and worries away and give you a peace that surpasses all understanding. We are trusting God with every bump that may arise.
Until next time,
Chris & Becca
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:4-7
The "Cupola" went on today.....
When we started planning the renovation we never really thought about all of the little details to plan as part of the restoration. When Christian our builder asked us if we would like a Cupola, I really had no idea what he was talking about.
When we started planning the renovation we never really thought about all of the little details to plan as part of the restoration. When Christian our builder asked us if we would like a Cupola, I really had no idea what he was talking about. So after a little explaining, a "Cupola" is basically the small structure that goes on the top of the roof that can provide ventilation to the building and also acts as a ground for lightening storms. You see these on barns across the country in all different shapes and sizes. Since our barn is relatively large, our Cupola is actually 5 feet by 5 feet. It was quite large close up. But now that its up on the roof it looks perfect.
In addition, you can see from the pictures that they are placing new boards on the outside of the beams. These will help to reinforce the structure of the barn, but once the siding goes on you will not be able to see them from the inside. The goal is to maintain the structure of the barn on the inside so you can still see all of the old beams that the barn was built with back in the 1800's.
We are really excited with the progress. There is still a lot to be done, but Christian and his team are working extremely hard to make every last detail perfect.
Until next time....
Warmly,
Chris & Becca Lynde
The "New" Roof is on......
It is truly amazing to watch these hard-working Amish gentlemen take the barn down piece by piece and then re-build it. They started with the roof. Their goal is to remove the old roof, reinforce the rafters and then put the new roof back on as quickly as possible to protect the structure and wood on the interior of the barn. We have been praying daily over all of these men to keep them safe, especially with how high the barn roof is, its actually kind of scary to watch. The project was started a little over a week ago and the roof is completely finished! It really looks amazing and had we not started this renovation I'm not quite sure how much longer that old roof would have lasted. There were actually two layers that needed to be removed, the old first shingle layer and then someone years ago must of repaired the roof by just placing slate shingles over top. The weight of the roof was so heavy that some of the rafters and beams had started to bend. They were able fix all of the issues and the roof looks amazing.
We still have a long way to go, but it's really exciting to see the progress!! I cannot wait to see the new windows and big barn doors that will go in to add some light on the inside and make "The Barn" a really special place to host a wedding or event! Here are some of the pictures so far! Make sure to sign up for our Newsletter for our weekly updates on "The Barn" renovation!! Check out this sneak peak on what the future holds.
One last thing, my Dad heard that every barn has a coin that is put in when it was originally built. We are still looking for the coin in hopes to find the exact year that the barn was built. Has anyone else heard this? When we asked our Amish builders they had not heard of it before, but we are still hopeful.
We continue to trust God every step of the way!!!
-Chris & Becca
"We live by faith, not by sight."
2 Corinthians 5:7
We are not looking back.....
Today is filled with so many emotions. The past couple of months have surely been a whirlwind with bringing back our little family bakery, to today as the barn renovations begin.
Today is filled with so many emotions. The past couple of months have surely been a whirlwind with bringing back our little family bakery, to today as the barn renovations begin. I came back from the gym and just walked around the barn, looking at all of the little details. It is truly amazing that this barn is still standing since it was built in the early 1800's. I wish the walls could share all of the history with us. We actually have a piece of old barn wood in our bedroom that has the date on it 98', with a bunch of initials carved in. It must be 1898, because if it was 1998 it would have been my brother and I.
I have so many memories of playing in the barn as a child. All the laughter, the exploration of all of the junk in there always hoping to find a hidden treasure. I cannot tell you how many times I climbed up this ladder as a child when we were playing hide-n-seek or just chasing kittens in the barn.
Chris and I have been asking ourselves over the past couple of weeks, are we crazy for doing all of this? But somehow I keep hearing Gods voice of peace and comfort to keep taking that next step. So today, its official, we have our permit and the renovation begins. I cannot wait to watch the transformation and see how Chris our Amish friend, will work throughout this project. His timeline is 4-6 weeks, WOW!!!
We hope you will join us in our journey of the transformation of The Barn. Our hope is it will be ready by the Spring of 2017 for Weddings and Special Events. Be sure to join us for our Blog updates and let your friends know to join too. We will be hosting a contest in the very near future to win a "Free" Wedding at The Barn!
Warmly,
Chris & Becca
