Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
A historic barn rises on the Main Line
The 250-year-old Jones Log Barn is now being rebuilt next to the Duportail House to become a History Center..
TREDYFFRIN » There is a colonial barn-raising happening in Chesterbrook.
The more than 250-yearold Jones Log Barn, which was once located near English General William Howe’s Valley Forge headquarters, is now being rebuilt next to the Duportail House to become a Living History Center.
“The Jones barn was built in 1730 era in an English style log barn, that is why it is so rare,” said Patty Benson, president of Tredyffrin Historic Trust, which has spearheaded the restoration efforts. “It’s reminiscent of English lake architecture and is one of the oldest in the Mid-Atlantic region.”
Shortly after 2001, the Contention Lane property owner died and family members concerned about the barn’s condition placed a demolition request with Tredyffrin Township to sell the property and have the barn taken down. That’s when Benson and other area residents formed the Historic Trust, attained non-profit status and secured funding to have the barn carefully taken apart and placed in storage. Each board was categorized and stored at Valley Forge Park using state grant money and a loan from the township.
The trust secured a location for the barn at the Duportail House, a 1740’s-era mansion that is now a nonprofit historic property and wedding venue. The Jones Log Barn is being erected next to their existing 1790 Federal barn.
“It just seemed like the right thing to do. It’s being built on the footprint of another barn that was there and burned down” said Benson.
Benson said an integral part of the Jones Log Barn project are floor joists from another historic structure, the former Fritz Lumber Company red barn in Berwyn.
Some of the original beams that were stored at Valley Forge Park were deteriorated beyond use in the project,” said Benson. “Nobody expected things to take things this long.”
Benson said that Fritz Lumber developer, Eadeh Enterprises, jumped through hoops to take that building down to enable its reuse in the Jones Log Barn, which provided the Trust with over $53,000 in material savings.
Benson said the stone foundation of the barn was done a number a number of years ago and Scott Walker of Axe Handle Timber is doing the final log construction of the barn.
“His craftsmanship is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” said Benson. “The process is tedious and timeconsuming, so it was done off site at a mill in East Fallowfield.”
“I’ve been hewing logs, peeling logs, stacking logs and finding logs,” said Walker, who has worked on more than 60 barns and restored buildings.
The restored barn will have two ‘cribs,’ that is 16foot x 30-foot rooms, connected by a central threshing bay built into the hill. Walker has been pleased with the progress noting that they are within one inch of levelness.
Walker noted Pennsylvania bank barns in the region come from a mixture of English, German and Austrian designs. They typically face south to get the sun and often used black rocks in their construction to warm the structure and aid the drying of the hay. There was a large opening on the bank side to bring in the hay. The center was a threshing room where the chaff was separated out a window and used to feed the livestock.
“They didn’t change significantly over 400 years and 7,000 miles of travel,” he said. “It’s a working machine, everything is proportional and everything has a purpose,”
“I’m amazed, these things go together like Lincoln logs,” said Walker.
“We have a longtime agreement on the property, the trust owns building but the Duportail house owns property,” Benson said.
When it opens in 2019, the barn will house, a living history center. It will be open to the public on Sunday and by appointment.”
The Tredyffrin Historic Trust is continuing fund-raising for the project to secure funds for the barn roof. They will hold their 14th Annual Historic House Tour to support the project Saturday, September 29th. Tickets available at http://tredyffrinhistory. org/?page_id=39.