Some History

Several years ago a farm was purchased along Highway 160 between Windber and Pomroy's Short Stop for the purpose of a housing development. On that farm sat an unusually well kept barn which we negotiated the rights to with the understanding we would pay for its demolition. Much of our house and barn was built from this barn. By necessity much was also done by contemporary building practices.

The barn was at least 80 years old. Some of the beams had come from a previous barn that had dates from 1887 with name inscriptions of those who constructed the older barn. The existing barn had been the center of a very active and profitable farming enterprise for many years.

When we acquired the barn, it was being cared for by descendants of the family that built it. Paul and Bill Miller had carefully filled and emptied the barn for at least 15 years. After selling the hay each year, they swept the floors and secured the barn against weather which accounts for the excellent condition it was in.

In July of 1994 our contractor began to disassemble the barn taking it down piece by piece. Then they used its materials to build the present house. In the future we plan to use the remaining materials to build a small barn attached to the front of the Quonset hut.

Nearly all of the visible wood found in the downstairs of the house was wood from the barn. The doors in the downstairs were stored in the barn and refinished by a friend of ours.

The Living Room

The living room walls are built of the beams found in the maws of the barn. They are of varying kinds of wood. Some are oak and chestnut. However, there are also a few hemlock and poplar. The beams running through the cathedral ceiling are chestnut and were also found in the maw. These beams are part of the supporting structure.

The exposed beams in the wall between the kitchen and living room and other parts of the house are decorative to give the appearance of a post and beam construction. They also came from the barn.

The floors were laid by us from the boards from the maw floors. In order to use them, we had to clean them with a steam jenny and wash them with a disinfectant and wood cleaner not unlike that advertised on television for decks. After several layers of white wash and dirt we obtained bare wood.

We then had to saw the board lengthwise to straighten the edges, cut them to length and fit them in place much like a puzzle since many were not the same width. Finally, we sanded and finished them just before we moved in. The uneven nature of the floor is due to bowing during their life in the barn and their different thicknesses.

You may be interested in knowing that the living room is furnished with furniture from grandmothers' attics or homes as the case may be. The couch and armchair from Mary Ellen's side, the dinning room set, love seat, and round cherry table from Parrish's. The parlor stove is a purchase as are some of the other chairs. The white chair was from an auction and was refinished and upholstered by Mary Ellen. The small smoking stand is from Dr. A. M. Benshoff's home in Windber.

The Kitchen

What was said about the living room floors is also true of the kitchen floors. The cherry cabinets were custom built using wood salvaged from the barn granaries.

The Family Room

This room provides a nice view of the farm and wonderful sunrises through its one window. The doors to the master bedroom are a bit unique. We are thankful to our refinishers for their care in rejuvenating these jewels.

They were able not just to refinish the wood but also the hardware. You may want to notice the heart shaped keyhole on the bedroom side of the doors.

By the way all the border painting is the work of Mary Ellen.

The Bathrooms

These rooms are like most bathrooms with the exception of the cabinets. The cabinets and mirror frames in all three bathrooms were custom built from wormy chestnut lumber salvaged from the granaries of the barn.

Another feature of the bathrooms is that the toilets are all low water use toilets. A flush uses only 1.2 gallons of water as compared with 2.5 to 5 gallons of water in older toilets.

The Upstairs

The stairs to the second floor are made of oak barn floorboards. Of this there was little. Otherwise, the upstairs was done primarily of conventional lumber and doors. This part of the house has two bedrooms, a loft, and a bathroom.

Best of all are the views from the balconies of the loft and the north-facing bedroom and from the window of the east facing room.