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My wife and I borrowed my families RV and moved onto the property that same year with all intentions of building an English Style Tudor home on the front side of the property. Im an architectural designer by trade and had spent months laying out my wifes dream home. (OK, I admit it was mine too!) It was going to be built using trees off the land that I spent six weeks cutting down and shaping into 8 x 8 beams with my chain saw. Then we hit a snag. The place where we were to build our dream home sat too close to the power lines that ran across the front of the property. Sure, I could get the utility board to move them, but not at their expense. Id have to pay for the entire shooting match and that just wasnt in the budget. By the time we got the news about the power lines, we had already spent nine weeks in that old RV and to be honest, it was getting sort of cramped seeing that three of our five children were still living at home. I dont care how big the RV is, if there is a 5 year old, two young teens, and two adults packed in it, life gets interesting. My wifes nerves were getting a bit frazzled and to be honest, so were mine. On our farm, the only other suitable place to build sat the most beautiful old barn you ever laid eyes on. 64 wide by 30 deep. This barn had good solid construction with 6 x 6 columns, true 2 x 6 girts and rafters, 1 x 10 & 12 planking on the walls and lofts floors. All rough sawn and true size. This building was nearly a century old and twice as solid as modern structures today. When I got the news about the house, I tried to break it to my wife as easy as possible so I took her out for a moon light stroll. You know, one of those romantic type walks that women just seem to get all gushy about. On our stroll we walked up to the barn where I had stored all those beams I had made to keep them in the dry until needed. Sweety, I said. We cant build the house right now. If I have to clear land to build it, there will be another three to four month wait before I can even start construction. Then, off the cuff I said; Maybe I could build us an apartment in the barn until I can start on the house. Her eyes lit up and she asked me; How long would it take to build? I thought for a second and decided it would take probably a month to complete. Her excitement returned and seeing her face light up like that spurred me on to swinging a hammer. I selected the widest open part of the barn and started the construction. Im glad I had the utility board hook power up to the barn as it really made life easier to use my power tools. I visited our local saw mill and bought as much raw lumber as I could. First I constructed a new loft area using some of the beams I had cut out, then using those same beams, started cutting out stairs. Next I enclosed the face of the opening with native rock and mortar at about three feet tall and then a wood wall on top of that. I built the floor to the Living Room and Den and then started framing the Kitchen which would protrude out of the back of the barn. Next, the loft I had previously built became mine and my wifes bedroom. From there I opened an area into the existing loft and started building the bathroom and two other bedrooms. It has been close to eight years now and that barn apartment has become a full blown home complete with five Bedrooms, a Living Room, Den/Dining Room, Kitchen, Full Bathroom, Study, Sunroom/Laundry, Sewing Room, and a Garage. We havent even used up a third of the barn yet and our square footage is already around 2064 sq. ft. of heated area. That square footage doesnt include the Garage, or Woodshop. The Garage is 13-4 by 20 and the Wood Shop is the same size. If you are planning to convert an outbuilding or barn into a home, you are in for a treat. Not only is there a rustic beauty but a whole bunch of possibilities for layout and use.
Article Source: http://www.bharatbhasha.net Article Url: http://www.bharatbhasha.net/home_improvement.php/139423 Article Added on Monday, June 8, 2009
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