In 2000 Stephen worked with a crew dismantling a timber frame barn in Indiana. The 1850s timber framed dairy barn has not been in use for years. The owner wanted it reused rather than seeing it torn down and destroyed. A buyer was found who wanted to repurpose the barn into a home in South Carolina.
Rudy Christian, a founding member of the Timber Framers Guild, shared his thoughts on adaptive reuse when he was interviewed about a similar barn project. “Even though you may not be using a barn as a barn when you use it adaptively, it still contains all of those characteristics,” he said. “You don’t lose the knowledge that the barn contains — you just offer that knowledge to a different group of people, in a different environment than it was before.”
The first steps were clearing the barn of decades worth of old hay and animal droppings, and removing the front siding. Next the metal roof was removed, and then the remainder of the siding. Now dismantling the barn itself could begin. Dismantling a timber frame barn is a laborious process, requiring meticulous labeling of each timber.
Dismantling a Timber Frame Barn
Using a crane the process begins. Depending on size and weight some bents may be removed as assemblies, then dismantled on the ground. Other timbers may be lifted alone. Straps are utilized to hold the standing frame together as the dismantling process continues. The pegs are pounded out of the frame as the timbers are disassembled.
Disassembly complete
Ready to begin raising in its new location!
Once all the pieces were on the ground a tractor trailer was loaded to bring the barn to its new home in the south. There the timbers were sorted and stacked. Any timbers that need to be modified or replaced are dealt with. The process of reassembly to create a new home began. You can see how it all turned out here!
