The Historic District

Yes, it is set just behind the house. Here is a rather snowy picture of the whole setup. You can see that it has a nice gothic peak on the front. It is clearly visible to anyone who comes to visit, and from the road. Also there is someone from some registry of historic barns that comes to check on i...

So now I'm a little confused — what's the consensus or recommendation on what I should do to the barn? Leave it, paint it with latex, stain it, blopentine and prime and paint it? My head is swimming! Thanks for any further thoughts.

As you can see from the bits of ochre that still cling to various boards, it was originally painted a mustard-yellow ochre color. It was built by Moravians (people of the Protestant Moravian denomination), and my Moravian-restoration friends tell me that 19th-century Moravian outbuildings, for insta...

Well, you all have relieved my mind a little bit. I'm sure none of the boards have been replaced; the barn has been in the family since it was built, and as you can see, nobody even bothered to paint it. I'll post some close-ups and also a photo of the challenges of the window on the opposite side. ...

It was the house people would not come out to paint, so fortunately I haven't been putting people off by saying "barn." The local painters are just one-guy guy outfits, rather than big companies, and they won't do work on high ladders. So finally I convinced this big company from the city ...

I don't doubt that all this advice is wise — but I doubt my painters can do anything specialized. We are very rural out here and it took three years just to get anybody to agree to tackle the house. I finally got these guys, from a big company, out from the nearest city, which is quite some way away...

My next job is to get my barn painted — it was last painted in 1879. It's not a full-size barn, more a large carriage house: just room for a horse, a cow, a buggy, and a hayloft. (Of these it currently has only the hayloft.) Anyway, I'm using painters I've used before, who are reliable and honest bu...

I love Greenfield Village! Was trying to get there this summer, but ran out of time.

I've never had an experience where a contractor showed themselves to be unreliable (didn't show up as scheduled, failed to return calls, etc.), I hired them anyway, and the work went well. In other words, every time I hired someone like that, they continued to be unreliable — and often dishonest, sh...

Alas, the bench is made up of dozens and dozens of narrow wooden slats — about half an inch wide. It is a 19th-century bench (original to the house) made in a way I haven't seen elsewhere. The slats mean it would require an enormous amount of time to strip, not to mention that there's lead paint in ...