I almost cried as I watched the old barn burn..

Elizabeth, if the wood was grayish color and if the wood was so hard you can hardly drive a nail in it then it was cedar. Cedar was used alot way back when. It lasts for decades, if not centuries, and termites can't harm it. Loquisimo, here property taxes go up a little with every permanent that's built. We have two coops (one added to the other so it may be considered one) but since we live in a RV, and we're on a dirt road (not a main highway) and we have ag exempt our 12.5 acres is only $35 in taxes a year!

Tator has it right-in CA, taxes are based upon first appraisal upon purchase or construction, upon appraisal when sold, or upon value in 1975 for a lucky few. The reason is Proposition 13, the Jarvis Tax Revolt of 1978. Once, CA property taxes were based upon the whims of the county, and upon a quick drive by. People would keep junk in their yards and not paint their houses so the property would LOOK BAD to a drive by appraiser and thus their taxes would be lower-such tricks were used extensively in the Great Depression, new houses wouldn't be painted or landscaped. During the inflation of the 70s, counties used that opportunity to jack up rates fast and far, leading old ladies to lose their houses because they couldn't pay the taxes. The counties refused to stop, saying they needed the money, so people rebelled and passed Prop 13.

Years ago when my Mom was having her house built she got big beams from great-great Aunt Dessie's barn. Mom used them as mantles above the fireplaces. So very pretty and a piece of our history.
I love to compare the different types of barns when we travel.

There is a fairly good business here in middle Tennessee for tearing down old barns. The wood is salvaged and resold. Matter of fact it seems to be lure a lot of people into taking out the beautiful old structures. My wife and I have taken pictures of old barns since we got here ,now lots of them are gone.Don't know what we are ever going to do with all those pictures but we enjoy the old barn looks!

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"Whose woods these are I think I know
His house is in the village tho...."

i just had a dining room table and bench made from an old barn door. it was put up in the 1890's, and lumbered in the 1890's as well. we got as much history as we could and we also got a copy of the aerial photo of the barn when it was still standing and in use. it is so sad to see them just burnt! i love my table, it still has some remenants of the red paint stain they used to use. we cover it with a table cloth when we eat on it, so as not to hurt it. but the rest of the time it is part of my primitive colonial decor

I'll start another thread within the next day or so. I don't want to load up this thread with a bunch of pics.

Oh, I would have cried! I start crying every time we talk about the old (70 years) barn on my parents' farm. All the years Daddy was down with cancer, first lymphoma and then colon cancer, he wouldn't let anyone do repairs on the barn...kept saying he'd get to it when he felt better. I guess it gave him a sense of purpose...something in the future to hold on to. Unfortunately, a few pieces of roofing tin blew off and rot set in. Now the old barn is crumbling before our eyes and everyone keeps telling me it is beyond repair.

I plan to salvage as much of the barn as I can this winter, but it's going to be a difficult job as I will be working with tears in my eyes. I love that barn.

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I'm running so far behind I thought I was first!

http://hickahala.blogspot.com/

Funny you should say that cause I smelled the few pieces we got over the weekend and thought they smelled like cedar and they are a pretty dark grey. You know your wood.

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Elizabeth M
"Keeper of bygones"