The End of an Era: the Naylor Barn

As many of you have probably either seen or heard, the barn at our property in Stewartstown was taken down last week.  This was a tough decision for us, but it had to be done.

Since purchasing the property in 2020, we've stayed busy making improvements and repairs to all different parts of it, from the buildings to the pavilions to the grounds.  I sort of avoided the barn because I have a soft spot in my heart for old things.  (Remember, I'm the guy with fifty year old vines in Brogue that sometimes make no economic sense.)  

This barn had been a landmark for the area for years, especially after Dick Naylor commissioned local artist Wayne Fettro to do the mural on the east side of it (facing Route 24).  It hadn't been used for anything in years except to store an old manure spreader.  What I did notice was that I couldn't keep what I could only assume was local kids from messing around it late at night as well as dumping off some trash periodically.

About a year ago I showed someone the lower level, and they mentioned that the foundation was about to give in.  How soon was hard to tell, but this is the case with a lot of bank barns.  The water running off the roof tends to soak in and swell the soil on the upper side of the barn.  While a lot of the main timbers were still solid, what they rested on was not.  If it was going to be saved, it should have happened decades ago.  A few more experts confirmed this for me.

This left me in a tough spot.  I was enamored by this old building and its history.  Estimates from a couple people said that it dated back to between 1850 and 1880 most likely.  There are a couple trees on the property that date back to the same time.  Hard to believe that they were around during the Civil War.  Makes me wonder what they were witness to.

Unfortunately, the liability involved with such a building potentially collapsing coupled with the enormous expense it would have taken to save it led me to make the decision to take it down.  I would have felt awful if something had happened to anyone due to its unsafe nature.  So, we applied for the proper township permit and got things underway.

I did reach out to the Naylor family to see if they had an interest in the mural, as I was happy to have them come and save it for posterity.  It depicted Dick and Ted and even Matt in the tractor (who has now worked for me for over fifteen years.)  They responded that they weren't able to do so, which I understand as it would have been a serious project and they have a business to run these days.  (They did make a nice post about it on their Facebook page.)

I also reached out to the artist to see if he had suggestions.  I did not get a response, but I saw where they said that these murals have a lifespan of about 15-20 years (and we're were about there).   

Luckily we were able to salvage a few of the old boards ourselves, and you will see them sometime in the future in a new tasting area that we are working on these days.  The rest of the boards and beams were saved as well by a local contractor who did the demolition, and I feel good that they will be adding strength and beauty to many, many homes in the future.

It'll take some getting used to, driving up Vineyard road and not seeing the old barn standing there.  I'm sad that it had to happen, but hopefully in the future we can do something with the foundation.