In the summer of 2022, my kids and I dismantled a barn in Beavercreek, Oregon. We believe the barn was built in 1889.

This barn is also significant in that it was on property owned by family for around 50 years. In fact, we had family photos taken inside the barn over 10 years ago.

This barn was timberframed which means it was built with all wood joinery and no metal brackets or bolts. There were cut nails holding the rafters to the frame and cut nails holding the skip-sheathing to the rafters.

Additionally, the squaring of the timbers and all the joinery would have been crafted using hand tools.

We can't be sure with this barn but typically the larger timbers would have been crafted from trees felled on the property and then squared on the property. Much of the smaller dimension lumber likely came from a local sawmill.

Because this barn was in the family for a number of years we know that at some point there was a fire started by a lightening strike. The back part of the barn had been rebuilt after the fire which had many pieces from the original frame and also some newer lumber from a local sawmill. In fact, some of the beams from this rebuilt part of the barn are charred from the fire.

The items we're making now are crafted from wood and metal reclaimed from this old family barn.