Seeing the dismantling of an old homeplace was a first for me. Thanks to a fellow photographer friend that invited me to see it in progress, we were able to witness its final surrender after standing resolutely since the late 1800’s.
When new owners purchased the land this home sat on, they did it with the intention of utilizing every inch of salvageable material in the construction of their new home. The owner was on site wearing Carhart overalls and ready to work right beside the men she hired to bid her farewell.
The architectural details of old homes have always intrigued me, so it was pretty special to see one stripped to its bare bones and study its original foundation. It was a timber, balloon frame home (common between 1860s – 1920s), constructed with 5”x5” hand hewn logs in the outer walls, held together by mortise and tenon joints, notching, and wood pegs. As the team of men worked to tear apart the second story, they carefully labeled and numbered each piece of timber.
The first floor foundation was built using huge, squared logs resting on stacked stones and perfectly measured slices of tree trunks. During the process, Confederate money, a diary, a feedsack babydoll, and a feral beehive were found in between the walls and stairs. The diary was kept by the original owner where he carefully documented his bootlegging/moonshine transactions. Both the money and diary were donated to the local museum.
This is only the third time I’ve seen this and it fascinates me every time! Have you ever seen a babydoll made from a feed sack? (pic #8) I never have, and she even had legs underneath her fluffy skirt! It was overall a great morning of learning new things and meeting new people! And Maybe the owner will let us see her new home with the old home reincarnated within it!
Check out Grover Creations to see some really cool stuff those guys create (and sell!) using reclaimed materials!!
