Walked into a 150 year old barn frame last weekend and nearly cried

I was out near Lancaster PA visiting family and stopped at this old farm property. The barn had these hand hewn oak beams, still solid after all that time. You could see the adze marks clear as day, every cut done by someone who knew what they were doing. Made me think about how we rush everything now with nail guns and prefab trusses. Would that old timer laugh at my laser level or respect the speed? Anyone else ever stand in an old structure and feel like you're looking at a lost art?

3 comments

3 Comments

fisher.thomas19d agoTop Commenter

Bet that barn outlasts anything we build today.

walker.julia19d agoMost Upvoted

Did anybody else consider that old barn might have survived because it was BUILT to be repaired, not replaced? That hand hewn timber frame could have joints fixed individually instead of tearing the whole thing down. We just traded durability for speed and now we act surprised when modern buildings fall apart first.

cole_murphy19d ago

Blame it on the builder, not the way they built it, plenty of old barns rotted into nothing too.