In late 2000, I bought a piece of property that was
used as a farm for the past three generations. And even though just
under six acres, was one of the prettiest pieces of land you ever laid
eyes on. One half of the property is wooded and the remainder is
rolling hills. At the westernmost section of the land runs a bubbling
brook fed by a gushing spring. The water in that spring is crystal
clear, fresh, and cool, all year round.
My wife and I borrowed my
families RV and moved onto the property that same year with all
intentions of building an English Style Tudor home on the front side of
the property.
I'm an architectural designer by trade and had
spent months laying out my wife's dream home. (OK, I admit it was mine
too!) It was going to be built using trees off the land that I spent
six weeks cutting down and shaping into 8" x 8" beams with my chain saw.
Then
we hit a snag. The place where we were to build our dream home sat too
close to the power lines that ran across the front of the property.
Sure, I could get the utility board to move them, but not at their
expense. I'd have to pay for the entire shooting match and that just
wasn't in the budget.
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By the time we got the news about the power
lines, we had already spent nine weeks in that old RV and to be honest,
it was getting sort of cramped seeing that three of our five children
were still living at home. I don't care how big the RV is, if there is
a 5 year old, two young teens, and two adults packed in it, life gets
interesting. My wife's nerves were getting a bit frazzled and to be
honest, so were mine.
On our farm, the only other suitable place
to build sat the most beautiful old barn you ever laid eyes on. 64'
wide by 30' deep. This barn had good solid construction with 6" x 6"
columns, true 2" x 6" girts and rafters, 1" x 10" & 12" planking on
the walls and lofts floors. All rough sawn and true size. This building
was nearly a century old and twice as solid as modern structures today.
When
I got the news about the house, I tried to break it to my wife as easy
as possible so I took her out for a moon light stroll. You know, one of
those romantic type walks that women just seem to get all gushy about.
On our stroll we walked up to the barn where I had stored all those
beams I had made to keep them in the dry until needed.
Sweety, I
said. "We can't build the house right now. If I have to clear land to
build it, there will be another three to four month wait before I can
even start construction." Then, off the cuff I said; "Maybe I could
build us an apartment in the barn until I can start on the house." Her
eyes lit up and she asked me; "How long would it take to build?" I
thought for a second and decided it would take probably a month to
complete.
Her excitement returned and seeing her face light up
like that spurred me on to swinging a hammer. I selected the widest
open part of the barn and started the construction. I'm glad I had the
utility board hook power up to the barn as it really made life easier
to use my power tools.
I visited our local saw mill and bought as
much raw lumber as I could. First I constructed a new loft area using
some of the beams I had cut out, then using those same beams, started
cutting out stairs. Next I enclosed the face of the opening with native
rock and mortar at about three feet tall and then a wood wall on top of
that.
I built the floor to the Living Room and Den and then
started framing the Kitchen which would protrude out of the back of the
barn. Next, the loft I had previously built became mine and my wife's
bedroom. From there I opened an area into the existing loft and started
building the bathroom and two other bedrooms.
It has been close
to eight years now and that barn apartment has become a full blown home
complete with five Bedrooms, a Living Room, Den/Dining Room, Kitchen,
Full Bathroom, Study, Sunroom/Laundry, Sewing Room, and a Garage. We
haven't even used up a third of the barn yet and our square footage is
already around 2064 sq. ft. of heated area. That square footage doesn't
include the Garage, or Woodshop. The Garage is 13'-4" by 20' and the
Wood Shop is the same size.
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If you are planning to convert an
outbuilding or barn into a home, you are in for a treat. Not only is
there a rustic beauty but a whole bunch of possibilities for layout and
use.