THE RESTORATION OF JABEZ NEWHALL’S TAVERN
CHAPTER 9 -- OUTBUILDINGS: THE CARRIAGE HOUSE
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Joined to the front of the barn was a smaller structure,
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undoubtedly the carriage house visible in the mid-19th century print of Jabez Newhall's tavern.
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Sometime during the early part of the 20th century the building had been appropriated for use as a livestock barn.
Its exterior had been covered with asbestos tiles, and windows had replaced the original doors.
With its roof sagging under the weight of tons of slate and its posts rotten and infested with insects,
the timber frame was sinking into the ground, held up only by its exterior siding.
We determined that the building was beyond hope of restoration, but carefully sketched details of its original construction so as to be able to replicate it at a later time.
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We offered the slate to a local roofer, in exchange for repairs to the leaking roof of the larger barn.
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After the slate was off, we removed all of the asbestos siding.
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Without its white mask, it was clearer than ever that the sagging structure had to come down.
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After stripping the roof of the wood shingles that remained when the slate had been removed,
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we carefully removed all of the sheathing,
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extracting thousands of period nails and storing the lumber for later use.
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Much of that lumber is now the second floor of our big barn.
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Finally, the frame had to come down.
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We had hoped to dismantle it piece by piece, but good sense dictated a safer method.
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After first separating the frame from the big barn, we cut all of the angle braces on the north and south sides.
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After drilling out all of the pegs in the frame, Jan's dad and I hitched our trusty Datsun to a beam...
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then pulled the frame to the ground.
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Once we could see the open farmland behind it, we quickly decided not to put the carriage house back.
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Click here for Chapter 10: OUTBUILDINGS: SHED, MILK HOUSE, AND BARN
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Chapter 1: AS FOUND: SEPTEMBER 1985
Chapter 2: SEPTEMBER 1985 -- THE OUTBUILDINGS
Chapter 3: PHASE I: DEMOLITION
Chapter 4: NEW FOUNDATIONS AND CHIMNEYS
Chapter 6: RE-SHAPING THE EXTERIOR
Chapter 7: PREPARING FOR OUR FIRST WINTER
Chapter 8: SPRING 1987 -- CLAPBOARDS AND PAINT
Chapter 9: OUTBUILDINGS: THE CARRIAGE HOUSE
Chapter 10: OUTBUILDINGS: SHED, MILK HOUSE, AND BARN
Chapter 11: RESTORING THE CUPOLA
Chapter 12: GARDEN AND FRONT DOOR