Historic Building Restoration

Perhaps no other native architecture better exemplifies the spirit of the American pioneers than their barns. These buildings, dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, were originally built with heavy timbers harvested from the virgin forest, hewn to shape by hand.

Our restoration business locates, carefully documents and preserves fine examples of early American barns, cabins, houses and mills from the 1700’s and 1800’s and converts them into historically accurate homes and offices with all the conveniences of modern structures. Most of our barns are originally from the east coast, a very historic area with a long tradition of finely built barns. Many of our log cabins have come from the Appalachian region. We have a general history of each barn we restore and often through historical research obtain a more detailed, in-depth history of the building.

Timber-Frames—Hewn and Joined by Hand

Our barns are timber frames which were made years ago by the ancient method of hand-hewing logs into posts and beams. Depending on where they originated, these beams are of tight-grained wood from virgin trees of various species, including oak, chestnut, pine and hemlock. They were felled with axes and hewn square by hand with the ancient broad ax and adz. They were then joined into a framework by mortise-and-tenon joints secured with wooden pegs.

Our log cabins are original, historic log cabins which were made of handhewn logs stacked on top of one another and joined at the corners with a variety of joints, including dovetails.

Dismantling and Reassembling a Structure

Once a barn or cabin is located and selected, we carefully dismantle it at its original location, charting the location and joinery of the posts and beams. We then ship the disassembled structure to our yard in Texas, where we completely restore the pieces. It takes us about six weeks to clean and restore each frame and about one week to set it up.

When the new location of the structure is determined, the pieces are moved to the cleared site. After a foundation is built, we lay the floor joists and deck. The barn frame or cabin logs are then erected, the roof is installed and the walls are closed in (or in the case of a cabin, the chinking between the logs is filled in). We then install the windows and doors. The completed structure can then be modernized as desired with electricity, plumbing and insulation (log cabin walls do not require insulation). Interior walls and ceilings can be added and then floor coverings installed.

Restored Barns and Cabins as Unique Dwellings

Today, many people are coming to recognize the beauty of these structures and the possibility of living or working in a unique, historic building, surrounded by the work of pioneer craftsmen. Living or working in such a building cannot help but remind us of days long past when men and women lived simpler lives in natural surroundings. Many people use their restored barns and cabins for such purposes as offices and meeting halls, and residentially for homes, guesthouses and bed-and-breakfast accommodations.

Our Initial Restoration Project

Our first barn moving and restoration project was the Hope Barn, our own craft showroom in Elm Mott, Texas. We located a nearly 200-year-old Dutch\English barn in New Jersey and in less than five months had dismantled and shipped it to Texas, restored its beams and rebuilt it completely, including modern utilities. This two-story structure which we call The Barn still serves us today at our Homestead Heritage Traditional Crafts Village as a showroom for not only our handcrafted items (pottery, wrought ironwork, handmade brooms, beeswax candles, natural glycerin soaps and quilts, to name a few), but also our solid wood furniture, formed and shaped using traditional woodworking methods and hand joinery. You can visit this showroom—The Barn at Homestead Heritage—Monday through Saturday, from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. It still contains many of its original structural features, including the original threshold.