This is what our barn looked like when we bought the property a of couple years ago. It's actually a granary that was built in the 1880's with a corn crib on the far left side and nice open space behind the big door. The right side had a lean to for shelter and a tack room under the loft in the middle. Pretty cool right!
Upon closer inspection it was really in pretty rough shape on the outside (especially after our goats decided to eat the siding) but built rock solid in the middle. We felt a need to try to save what we could and make it a more usable space for our current needs, mainly garage stalls and storage as well as a place for me to work on restoration of furniture during the summertime.
So I drew up some plans, hired a builder and began demo. We salvaged all the tin roofing and plan to use it on another building as siding.
Next each side was removed in sections and hauled away.
It looks a little tiny and sad with just the middle standing and though we loved how it opened up our view to the west of our property, it was not stable or of much use in this form.
Poles went in as support on each end as the new 20' x 22' garage stalls began to take shape.
It was at this point I was a little concerned about the proportions and if we made the right decision.
But it started to take shape and I was getting excited!
It's finally done and I really do love it. I am not really into metal sheds, siding etc because I love old historic homes and buildings, but it just made more sense to build it in this manner for Minnesota weather. Plus as you will later see, we did get to keep some of the original.
This is the wide open space on my side of the garage and the other side is a mirror image. Plenty of space for our vehicles and all the necessities for maintaining a hobby farm!
I really love this part of the building. Here you can see the old original siding of the middle section of the granary and it's in pristine condition!
Keep on pickin'!
Kelly
