THE BARN
Asian Trade/Oriental Rug Review

74 Sinclair Hill Road, New Hampton, NH 03256, (603) 744-9191,
ronocal@lr.net, rugreview.com, ronocal on eBay

Go to Oriental Rug Review Home Page

Established in 1995, Asian Trade is a gallery of Afghan Tribal rugs, ancient Chinese ceramics, and Tibetan and Afghan jewelry. As our on-line eBay and in-gallery business grew we decided we needed more space, so in 2000 we engaged an architect and planned for a addition to our 1790 house, where the business has been located in an ell. 9/11/01 came along and changed everything. We stopped the architect in his tracks and decided to stand pat and see how this horrible disaster would effect the world, our country and our lives. But, not long after we heard of a 230 year old barn that was slated for demolition. It was located about two miles from our home. The idea of saving an ancient barn in our hometown appealed to us. It seemed that we would accomplish what we needed to do for more space and serve historic preservation at the same time. Four years, three contractors and much $$$ later, we are now moving in to our barn, the barn that eBay helped build.

In the Beginning

Above is a photo given us by the former owner of the barn. Inscribed on the back of the photo is, "The barn still standing on our property is to the right in the photograph. Robert and Adelbert Gordon Farm, Gordon Hill Road, New Hampton, N. H., around 1890. The barn still stands today in 1993." We must add that it still stands proudly in 2005.

Above, is the barn on Gordon Hill Road, New Hampton, NH,
Summer, 2002. To the right, the first time we saw our barn

The barn as it appeared on our property in Winter 2002-03. It had come a long way, but had a long way to go.

Moving the Barn to Our Property and Making Needed Repairs

As the barn stood on its original location, we could see that the ends of some posts (uprights) were rotted away and would have to be scarfed (repaired). The original footprint of the barn was 40'by 50'. We bought the whole barn but reduced the footprint to 40'by 40', leaving one bent (section or bay) of 10' for spare parts. It is a good thing we did, for when the barn came down it showed more post rot than we had anticipated. Don did the repair work and we came to know him as a conscientious craftsman and we continue to admire his work every day.

Laying Out All the Pieces and Putting it Together on the Ground

Some Assembly Required

Beams, rafters and posts were laid out on our yard. All put together, it would be a barn or, at least, the frame of a barn. The walls were assembled, along with the two roof units which, once put in place at either end of the frame, were tied together by rafters and the ridge pole. At above, right are chiseled Roman numerals. These date from when the barn was originally erected and aided assembly of portions of the barn that would have been erected and lifted into place with a lot of man and oxen power. Our code marks were also Roman numerals but were branded on to the various members. We have found a mystery set of yet another set of marks, suggesting that parts of our barn came from a yet earlier structure. One of our branded marks and one of the mystery marks appear in the photo above that shows Don's tools on a post. To the left are internal ladders that are included in the present barn along with two sets of stout stairs.

OCTOBER 20, 2002
The Day of the Crane

The big lift and then work fast - no one wants the crane on site for any longer than it has to be.

The frame was up and standing on its own. Outer sheathing boards were in place, as were most windows. The doors and door lights, however, were not in place as of the time these photos were taken. But we then had an idea of the space and light that we would enjoy on the project's completion, which was another two years off.

TO BE CONTINUED
The Second Page of This website Will Soon be Launched.
It Will Show How the Barn looks in Summer of 2005.

Go to Oriental Rug Review Home Page