Where do you get all this beautiful reclaimed wood?
Where does all this beautiful reclaimed wood come from?
Most of our customers at some point express this curiosity. We love this question since it gives us the opportunity to talk about our passion for reclaimed wood flooring and the history that comes with it. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
Barns
This is the common understanding of where the reclaimed wood comes from and it is to a large extent correct. So let's take a look at some of the more common barns that dot our landscape.
Dutch Barns
The history of barns in this country begins with the Dutch, of course! Largely populating the Hudson Valley, they brought over their distinctive building traditions from Europe. The interior construction was taken directly from the world they had left with its mortised, tenoned and pegged beams being constructed in an unmistakable “H” pattern. The central space, which was mostly used for threshing, would be lined on either side with columns.
Learn more about Dutch Barns here http://www.dutchbarns.org/
Bank Barns
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This style of construction can still be seen throughout New England, the Mid-Atlantic region, and into the Midwest. It is distinctive in that bank barns are built into the side of hills allowing the farmer two separate entrances that can be accessed from the ground. Where there was no hill, the farmer would push up earth to create the same effect.
The upper level or the hill side entrance was designed for ease of access for the wagons and their load of either wheat or hay. The upper level also had various openings in the flooring allowing for some fodder to fall below for the animals. The lower level housed the animals. Bank barns also featured distinctive tiny slits that can be seen on exterior walls. These were put in place to allow air to move in and out more freely as newly-cut hay is prone to spontaneous combustion.
Learn more about bank barns at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_barn
Round Barns
“You know it when you see it,” as the famous jurist once noted. Dating from the 18th and 19th century, round barns gained early notoriety with the Shaker Barn that was constructed in 1826 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hancock_Shaker_Village ). George Washington was also an early proponent of this style, having designed and built one at his Dogue Run farm in Fairfax, Virginia. The popularity of this style did not follow until later in the 18th century when more progressive farmers began seeking efficiency in their work and buildings. The circular construction ultimately provided three main advantages over traditional building: greater structural reliability, easier construction; and a larger internal volume of space. Ultimately, modernization of farming practices rendered the round barn obsolete, but did leave us with some beautiful examples that still remain.
Go here for a fantastic read on the round barn: http://www.grit.com/community/round-barns.aspx
Prairie Barns
With its peaked roof projecting up into the sky, this style of barn is iconic. Also known as the western barn, this structure is largely associated with western and southwestern agriculture. The needs of the western farmers differ in that they tended to have much larger herds and thus need greater hay and herd storage. The prairie barn resembles the dutch barn with its long, sweeping roof line and the internal design with stalls on both sides of its central space.
Follow the links for more information and some beautiful barn images:
http://www.farmcollector.com/farm-life/proud-survivors.aspx
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