#cattlebarn

Woke up to a winter wonderland this morning. #firstsnow #cattlebarn #champlainvalley #vermont https://www.instagram.com/p/ClB2E2XuuXX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

From the 17th century carpenters marks found during the restoration of the Barn, it was possible to date the building back to approximately 1600. Many of the oak timbers had come from previous buildings and so are probably many more hundreds of years old! The Barn was originally built to store grain for Streat Place which is the large, mainly Elizabethan, house next door. Over the years the Barn has had various different uses, the last of which was to house cattle, the separate 'bull pen' was still in evidence when we first started work. The little detached cottage, on the other side of The Dairy, is known as The Genny and was built to house a generator for Streat Place. The Dairy building did indeed start life as a dairy, with the milk being supplied by Crouchers Farm, which is on the track the other side of Streat Lane. During the Second World War The Dairy was converted into a laundry as Streat Place was being used as a convalescent home for Canadian soldiers. The remains were found of an old brick sink and fire for a 'copper', used to wash the sheets, and in the renovation an old boiler and the large associated pipes were removed that would have kept the room warm to dry the sheets. The work on the Barn and its outbuildings, has been completed almost entirely by Steve over the 30 years that we have been here.