Autumn 2008
The Barn People
Creative carpentry and hippie capitalism combine to create a successful - but controversial - barn restoration company
Story and photographs by Richard Duval
In the mid-'70s, a New York art student with an interest in creative carpentry visited a farm site in search of materials worth salvaging. He was directed to an aging barn and told to take what he liked.
So he did — the entire barn, plank by plank. Much of the wood wasn't salable, but he was intrigued with the way the barn was designed and constructed. Flash forward to today, and that fascination for barn frames is the impetus behind The Barn People, a company that specializes in dismantling, restoring and reassembling vintage Vermont barns. Resurrected from aging and decaying structures, those 18th- and 19th-century barns most often become new houses, but are also used as artist studios, workshops, restaurants, enclosures for indoor swimming pools, caretakers houses, garages, great rooms and, occasionally, as a new "old" barn.
From Shelburne to Puget Sound, The Barn People, led by Ken Epworth and based in Windsor, has left its mark on rural landscapes around our state and the country — barns, rebuilt and rebirthed by a team of carpenters and craftsmen. Profiled in Architectural Digest, The New York Times, USA Today and on "This Old House," the company was restoring Vermont's vintage barns long before "green" building methods came into vogue. And more than 30 years of barn work have not dimmed Epworth's enthusiasm for these icons of Vermont history.
An intriguing mix of longhair informality and short-hair capitalist cunning, Epworth delights as much in capturing the barn's mystique as closing the sale. Standing center stage of a barn reassembly in Newfane, Epworth revels in the craftsmanship reflected in the barn's original frame.
"Look at the quality of the wood we're working with," he says, pointing to one of the thick planks that serve as the center beam for the roof. "Barns have it all — history, craftsmanship, construction challenges. After more than 30 years, I still learn something new from every barn. No two are alike."
Squinting through tinted granny glasses, shaking his unkempt long gray hair and looking every inch the aging hippie he claims to be, Epworth prowls the project like an expectant father, checking every detail from the angle of a wall to the mix of mortar. Conferring frequently with David "Shep" Shepard, his longtime foreman, Epworth yells and swears at one turn, turns jovial and mellow at another, drawing equal spark from his crew of veteran craftsmen and carpenters who clearly enjoy the rapport.
"He's an interesting and complex man," says Shepard. "He knows three times more than any of us about barn frames, but he takes our input and lets us add our ideas to the project. At the same time, he's meticulous about quality and detail and makes sure that we are, too."
Though he enjoys the barn mystique, Epworth is no simple idealist. Over three decades, he's built his enterprise on a combination of knowledge of wood and carpentry, artistic sense and a shrewd capacity to marry the correct barn with the client's needs.
"Every customer has one underlying apprehension — ‘Am I buying the right barn for what I want to do?' My responsibility is to make sure they are. That can mean sometimes telling the client that what they're thinking won't work."
And tell them he does, in no uncertain terms. Clare and Gerard McAuliffe, the anxious owners of the Newfane barn, are on hand for a progress inspection. Epworth scouted many potential barns for them before settling on one found in Benson.
Walking them around the frame, he points out what's going according to plan, and what isn't. In a spirited give and take, plans are adjusted, solutions found; Epworth generally wins out and the work proceeds as planned.
"I admire his knowledge and devotion to building the barn right," says Clare, who contacted The Barn People after seeing Epworth on "This Old House." "Yes, he's a character, but he clearly knows what he's doing. He bought into my vision of keeping the final project looking like a barn and I bought into his methods, so we're on the same page."
And when he and client don't see frame to frame? "It's usually no problem," laughs Epworth. "I just kind of ignore them and just keep doing what I know is right for the barn."
From Salvage Yard to Barnyard
It was a long, strange journey for Epworth to become the bard of barns. Raised in Greenwich Village by his mother and artist father, Epworth attended the Rhode Island School of Design bent on architecture, and then developed a love for old buildings.
But this was the late '60s after all, and in between classes, Epworth did what many socially aware young people did back then. "I marched, protested, joined a commune, lived the whole hippie lifestyle," he says.
Along the way, he was influenced by a teacher who would send him to salvage yards for wood to be used in set design. Something about salvaged materials clicked with his knack for carpentry, and before long, he had started a salvage company with a partner, specializing in the recovery and reuse of old wood. Drawn to rural architecture, he soon fell in love with barn frames. He'd salvage the wood where possible, but tearing down old barns for parts didn't sit well with the artist-carpenter in him.
Resettling in Vermont, he started to solicit work as a barn restorer. His first barn project in 1975 was in Orwell — a three-bay wagon barn that had outgrown its farm life. He and his partner dismantled it one piece at a time, marking each plank with masking tape and a felt-tipped marker. In a short time he sold it, then reassembled it as an artist studio. He was hooked.
Two years later, he did his first out-of-state barn project in Westport, Conn.; by the end of the year, he had three such projects in the works. The phone started ringing and he's been barning full-bore ever since.
From Plank to Bank
Today, the company is booked nearly a year in advance with various projects in and out of state. The company's reputation is such that it can command starting fees between $60 and $70 a square foot; high-end custom work can go for $100 a square foot or more. In addition, Epworth also earns substantial consulting fees from potential customers throughout the country who pay for his opinion on barn suitability.
Epworth also tracks barns throughout Vermont and most of New England — sometimes his own discovery, but more often via a contact from an owner wishing to sell. Though he prefers to match a barn with a waiting customer, he does buy barns with potential, thus building and maintaining an inventory.
With its use of space-age epoxies and hidden steel coupled with proven carpentry skills and Epworth's expertise in barn frames, The Barn People's national reputation has resulted in barn projects in Sun Valley (a five-barn project that was featured in Architectural Digest), Napa Valley (a 1770 New Hampshire barn that now houses offices and a laboratory for the Nickel & Nickel winery) and on Orcas Island in Washington's Puget Sound.
Epworth's affinity for barn frames shows no signs of abating. He still buys and reads every barn book he can find — "I'm still learning" — and has started assembling more than 30 years of notes, stories, anecdotes and pictures for his own book. And Epworth still thrills at the sight of barns with potential to be saved.
"When you enter an old barn for the first time, you see dirt and debris and it all just mixes together. But then you start seeing things — the beautiful color of the wood; a sound structure with promise. You see the history, mystery and charm. Now the fun starts."
Preserved, but taken away
Though his customers sing the praises of The Barn People's work, not everyone praises his vocation. There is no small irony in that Ken Epworth — a veteran of many a social and political protest — finds himself the subject of occasional criticism for what his company does. To many, dismantling and relocating New England barns is akin to grand theft, heritage.
When Epworth purchased a New Hampshire barn, on behalf of a client, that had stood near the Merrimack River since 1774, the local community was none too pleased, holding meetings and filling the local newspaper with angry letters, accusing him of indifference to its history.
Epworth, who has little patience for idealism unmatched by community action, countered with the fact that the barn had been for sale for years with no local bidders or community interest in preserving it. The care and attention his team puts into disassembling the barn is a far better fate than deterioration, he believes. Many barns are simply ignored by their owners until they fall, he says, because they can be so expensive to upgrade and maintain. Epworth's buyers often spend between $100,000 and $200,000 for a barn to be shipped and reassembled.
"I used to feel defensive about carting away my state's history," he says. "Not anymore. It's better than a barn rotting on a dirt road in New England."
Reclaiming and restoring an old barn is as easy as 1, 2, 3
1. Dismantling
- The team photographs and measures the structure and makes sketches to record its essential character. Blueprints are drawn, stating the location and size of each piece of timber, which is then coded.
- The exterior roof cover is removed and recycled. The roof sheathing board is removed to expose the rafters, followed by the exterior siding or "barn board." The exposed framework is usually solid, warm, mellowed timbers.
- The framework is wire brushed by hand to remove most of the hay, cobwebs and years of accumulated dirt. The entire frame is exposed and braced for dismantling. The wooden pegs, which hold the timbers firmly in place, are removed. Missing timbers are drawn on to the blueprints for later replacement at The Barn People shop. The entire frame is labeled to correspond with the labeled blueprints.
- The rafters are lowered to the ground by hand. A crane lowers the large heavy sections of the frame, which are then carefully dismantled and shipped to the shop.
2. Restoration/Repair
- All labeled parts are sorted and the beams stacked under cover. The original beam is kept intact and sections of wood from other unsalvageable barns are spliced in to replace deteriorated or unsightly areas.
- The structural elements are preassembled into large wall sections. Each section is then "squared up" and remeasured. Missing beams are replaced. Any customization ordered by the client happens here.
- The entire frame is hand washed to preserve the wood's color. Following a thorough hosing, an environmentally friendly detergent is used for the hand scrubbing. The beams are sprayed again; in less than half an hour the beam is dry, the appearance dramatic. This process ensures that the barn will not smell like an old barn.
- Damaged beams are replaced with beams that match the color and character of the original. The entire frame is sprayed once with a treatment that kills anything living in the wood, including mildew, but is nontoxic to humans and animals.
- Fully restored and glowing with a splendid honey-colored patina, the refurbished barn frame — each part tagged and numbered like a new Erector Set — is ready for reassembly.
3. Reassembly
- After transporting the barn frame, the team assembles large sections on the ground. Heavy sections are lifted onto the foundation platform via crane; the frame is squared and plumbed, then braced and pegged together with handmade hardwood pegs.
- Insulation material will be fastened to the exterior of the frame, just as barn board was originally, but will be viewed as the interior finish directly against the frame.
- Insulated, sealed panels offer significant advantages when heating the large, open, high-ceilinged spaces common when using old barn frames. The panels also deaden outside noise and create a very quiet home environment.
Video Short: Open House
"Good Barns Built by Bad Boys" is Ken Epworth's motto. Come on site for an exclusive look at The Barn People in action. Get the insider's view as the "Bad Boys" use traditional techniques and handmade pegs to transform a historic barn into a home.
V-14 Insider Knowledge: Great public Vermont barns worth visiting
A description of 10 great Vermont barns worth visiting.
