Today’s guest post comes from the talented author and illustrator, Steven Kellogg. We so enjoyed working with him and are honored to have him write for our little blog!
I am an artist who, for decades, on rambles throughout the northeast, has admired old barns. Recently, I have been thrilled with the acquisition of a rugged, hand hewn barn frame The barn itself had been slowly deteriorating on the abandoned farm it had once served, and then was subsequently rescued, and restored.
The historic gunstock frame stood tall and true on the Champlain Island of North Hero
It came into my life because, with our family grown and my wife having developed some health issues that required a residence that is handicap accessible, I decided to build a home with supportive features to accommodate those needs on a piece of property on the shore of Lake Champlain that we had owned for a number of years.
I envisioned a house with several spacious, wheelchair accessible rooms overlooking the lake, that, most importantly, would have an old barn at its core. The interior would be designed so that classic proportions, a richly-toned original ceiling, and sculptural, hand hewn beams would serve as the major architectural themes.
The windows look out over the beautiful lake, and towards the barn’s original location
My search for just the right barn led me to Dan McKeen of Green Mountain Timber Frames, and then to his friend and colleague, Luke Larson, a master carpenter in Middletown Springs, Vermont. They had a number of impressive barn frames available in their inventory. Each one had been rescued from its original location on the farm where it had originally served. Each of these restored barn frames was like a rural cathedral with beautiful, simple, architectural lines, massive, hard wood beams, and magnificent notched and pegged construction.
Amongst these treasures, one of them stood out because of its superior details and appropriate size. I could picture it perfectly on our property. This particular historic frame came with added appeal: it was originally built around 1780 on one of Lake Champlain’s North Hero Island farms, not far from its prospective new home on our wooded knoll overlooking that very same lake.
When Luke and his skilled crew erected the barn frame on our wooded site, it seemed so harmoniously situated that it gave the impression that it had always been there.
Because our land is on the New York side of the lake, we resolved to honor the Adirondack tradition of calling rustic lakeside and woodland homes “camps” and giving them names. Prompted by the fact that the reconstructed North Hero Island barn faced our favorite monthly spectacle — the full moon lifting above the Vermont mountains and the lake — we decided it would henceforth be known as “Camp Moonrise.”
The sign over the hearth reads “Camp Moonrise”
Now that we are happily putting down roots in this beautiful building and enjoying every hour of living here, we will be forever grateful to Luke, Dan, and their team of master craftsmen for their passion for old barns and their creative talents, which made this opportunity available to us.
Read more about the process of restoring this old barn in this blog. For the Camp Moonrise project, Green Mountain Timber Frames partnered with the talented staff at Cloudspitter Carpentry and Hall Design Group.
More Images of the Beautifully Restored Barn Home – Camp Moonrise
A Blog about Old Barns ~ from Green Mountain Timber Frames 