TPF - Nipmoose - German Barn - During
Photographs by Constance Kheel
There were two primary goals in the restoration of the German Barn. The first was to recapture its original luster. The second object was to transform it into a meeting house. A combination of new and old building technologies was required to achieve these goals.
Ronald Babcock started work on the German Barn in 2001, continuing on and off until its completion several years later. With the help of several assistants, he shuttled back and forth between historic and contemporary building techniques.
Because of its poor condition, the German Barn was disassembled in its entirety. Reparation of the beams was accomplished inside the Workshop Barn at the Nipmoose Farm. While the majority of the German Barn’s original structural beams were able to be re-used, several rotted beams were replaced with red oak timbers harvested from neighboring woods. More