I obtained permission – with laughter all around – to use the term “antique ladies” here from two octogenarians, Betty Kimball and Helen Estabrooks, when I (age 77) drove them from North Orange to Petersham to see an iconic North Orange building on its new site in Petersham.
Our host in Petersham was Stephanie Selden, who transformed the old building into a comfortable residence on her ample Stony Lane Farm. This is a perfect example of “repurposing,” a word often used for this kind of situation.
The building, which Betty and Helen saw just about every day over several decades in their little village of North Orange, was formerly the coach house or carriage barn of the Cheney House. Claire Chenausky of Orange, a friend of both Betty and Helen. told me that she was living with her family in the old house (then a rental property) when it burned down on Jan. 28, 1967. The coach house was saved and was acquired by the Community Church of North Orange and Tully.
Decades later, church members determined they could not afford to rehab the badly deteriorated building, so they planned to demolish it. Stephanie heard about this and decided to buy it, and she hired a contractor to take it apart, timber by timber, in 2011, and it was then transported to her property in Petersham.
Stephanie offered this account: “I was alerted that the Carriage Barn in North Orange was slated for demolition by friends in Orange who knew I wanted to build a barn at Stony Lane Farm. The barn was disassembled and moved in parts over a period of months in 2011. The structure was raised on this site in the summer and fall of 2011 by Roger Graves and Sons of Barre. The reconstruction of the timber frame to historic proportions that was the most challenging for Roger since there were no ID’s on timbers or indication about their placement. The cupola was raised on Dec. 9, 2011. The interior was finished by Roger and crew in December 2014.”
She added: “Ron DeJackome of Petersham gets full credit for landscape work including placement of original granite from North Orange site. Gary Waid of Petersham laid up foundation brick here, using original bricks from the North Orange foundation. Doug Cameron of Petersham rebuilt the cupola, a replica of the original which had deteriorated too badly to be reused.”
The original clapboards, exterior trim, window frames, distinctive corbels, sliding barn doors, slate roof, foundation brick and foundation granite were all transported to Stephanie’s land, quite an accomplishment. Thus, in addition to the original timbers (bones of the structure), the site was littered with valuable architectural features “asking” to be reused.
Betty, Helen and I were all impressed at how the old building had become a 3,000 square foot home, fully furnished, comfortable and very attractive. Stephanie emphasized how much of the home is devoted to her nine grandchildren for their frequent visits. A bright-red spiral staircase made of steel leads to the cupola, which must be fun for the kids. Stephanie found it on Craig’s List, and it was moved to the site and inserted into the barn “corkscrew style” through the hay loft door by Roger and crew on interior, with Ron DeJackome on exterior.
Betty enjoyed our outing immensely, thanking me and Stephanie and commenting: “It was wonderful. What a nice time! I loved the experience and I did love the house over all. I really liked Stephanie. The kitchen was great, and the dining living. Upstairs, the renovation is wonderful, and yet I can see the old barn with all the pigeon poop! We used to store our attic treasures, for the church fairs. Glen Johnson and I were always going in and out, dealing with these attic treasures.”
She added, “I feel wonderful that it was restored, and it looked beautiful having all the fields all around it, looking down toward the Quabbin.”
Betty has a reputation for restoring old buildings and using authentic architectural features, and she exclaimed, “I love that she used barn doors for the front entrance – very special in my mind, maintaining the purity of the late 1800s, when the building was built.”
Helen said, “I’ve been telling everybody about our visit. I liked everything about it. I especially liked the fact that she made it into such a fun place, with the metal stairs going up to the cupola, and re-doing the cupola. That was an extravagant thing to do, and the church had wanted to do it, but it was impossible. It was nice that she had swings for her grandchildren to enjoy. I noticed the home-made jam on the counter of the old antique kitchen. I loved the porch, wide and screened in. The open concept of the downstairs is very attractive, but with a private bedroom placed in a former horse stall.”
I’m pleased but not surprised that this little adventure I conceived of with my “antique ladies” was such a success, and I thank Stephanie for her creativity, preservation ethic, and hospitality.