The Barn

The first part of the Barn was built in 1976, when Jarin was 26 years old.  It's built using the beam and bolt style of building, this was before he began to specialize in timber framing.  Over the years he's added onto the back, sides and front of the barn.  There was never any finish put on, and we have just let it age naturally. I have dreams of  it beautifully finished with Sierra Penefin, maybe someday.   Much of the Barn was built from trees he cut and milled right on our property, along with recycled old growth beams. If you have lots of trees on your property for building, you are rich indeed. If you only have a few...don't cut them down! They are worth more for their beauty and the enjoyment of seeing them alive. We have an abundance of evergreen Douglas Fir trees on our ten acres, and the trees for buildings came from clearing the meadows. Our friend Matt has a Wood Mizer mill that he brings out to our home, it's worth every penny to have him come out.  When he leaves we have a wonderful pile of large timbers and lumber, and after curing and drying it will be perfect for building economically. 

                                     

The workshop where all the big tools are for building timber frames and various carpentry projects.  The desk and drawing table are for Jarin the artist/architect and his drawings of barns, cabins, bungalows, gazebo's and gates. Our Barn is very cozy upstairs in the living quarters, I just love it.  It feels like a squirrel nest in the evening with the glow of soft light, the smell of good food cooking, and the warmth of family.

In the beginning there was no running water or bathroom in the barn, we did have to 2 finished bathrooms a short walk over to the Cabin and Big House. The Big house is where we all took our outdoor showers, and did our laundry. I will write more about the Big House and Cabin in another post, along with pictures. 

Running water is so essential for a family!!! You really appreciate it after hauling water. We also built 2 loft bedrooms, they are warm with the heat that rises. The first few winters living here, we stayed close to the wood stove it was so cold.  The kids never got up until they heard the crackling of the fire that I would start before anything else in the morning. We still out of habit stay close to the woodstove, even though now the barn is much warmer. 
There is off to one side of the barn 3 rooms ( they house my office, and 2 of the childrens rooms). At the back of the barn is a shorter loft that is our book nook/ library. The other side of the barn is the kitchen, bathroom and pantry. About 4 years ago we put up plywood over the insulation, and built shelves, and room dividers. We also insulated the bottom of the barn, so cold air couldn't come through the cracks, this made a huge difference in our warmth factor. The first thing we did was get the barn connected to it's own septic system, then installed plumbing, a bathroom and a rustic kitchen.

This is the gate leading into Applegarth Farm.  Jarin built it when we got together, and told me that this was the storybook gate, for the beginning of our life and story as a family.