They say that our eyes are the window to our soul. The BARn windows are part of the soul of this project.
We found our big windows online, a fitting tribute to the large holes in the upper ends of the barn where hay was ferried from end to end by horses according to old time tradition. When I found those windows online, we felt truly inspired.
Originally, at ground level the barn had four windows on the North side and two windows on the South side, tiny panes framed by wood. The glass from those windows and even the wood interiors to all but one of those windows was gone long before we ever moved to the Little Farm on the Piney.
Keeping true to the original look of the barn was important to us, but we weren’t inspired for those six first floor windows until Sam took some of the old barn wood home.
One day he came to our site toting a red oak window that he crafted from the old barn wood. He wondered if we would consider his version of these windows for the BARn.
Sam saw into our soul, and we didn’t even know it. With that handcrafted window, it was love at first sight.
Last Friday Sam got all six of the side windows installed. (He’s working on the upstairs sidelights now at his home shop.)
The old red oak of the original barn boards is exposed, and the window wood had some interesting and unique characteristics found only in reclaimed wood…like nail holes. Beautiful. Soulful. Thanks Sam.