Wayward Goose Farm: The Barn

When we purchased our new farm, the existing barn was in a sorry state. Built around 1815, it had not been used as a working dairy barn for many, many years. In fact, it had mostly been used to store, for lack of a better term, junk. The milk house had most recently been used to house chickens a few years ago, so not only was it quite filthy, it also lacked any kind of equipment whatsoever. The south end of the barn needed to be completely rebuilt and many of the main beams had to be replaced. The old, topless silos at the north end of the barn had to be taken down to prevent further water damage to the main sill. Still, with all its problems, the structure was sound. The original slate roof was in good shape as was its beautiful stone foundation. We knew the old girl was worth saving and that she would serve us well if we could do it right.

We were so lucky to find a team of awesome local craftsmen to do the work. Joe Curran and his crew, brothers Steve and Eric, from Shaftsbury, VT did all of the post and beam work as well as totally overhauling the milk house. Tom Bates from Wells, VT did all of the plumbing in the milk house as well as installing all of its equipment and doing all of the electrical work. Ashley Waite from Pawlet, VT did all of the concrete work that needed to be done. Josh Brown of Wells, VT did all of the welding. And Mike Stock and his log truck took on the difficult job of removing the silos.... quite an adventure in itself! We are so grateful to them all for not only doing such an exceptional job, but for being great people! We feel very fortunate to have met so many new friends!