After moving back home, I decided to take it upon myself to to help fund the fix for my parents big red barn. It has been a goal of theirs to renovate it since they had moved into their dream house almost 20 years ago. Well as we all know, life happens and you have to shovel out money for unexpected things...this is where I come in....
I moved in at the beginning of November 2016 and took to planning out how I could fund this Barn renovation. It is quite the hefty cost if its just a simple renovation and not a conversion, which are all the rage now. (And to be honest, a conversion would be amazing!)
Looking into it, it’s going to take a while. But here are the steps I’m taking to get the process going:
I need to apply for a historical landmark preservation grant.
In order to do this, the barn needs to be of historical significance to the area. And so ensues my first step. Applying for Historical Significance of this 1 of only two wood Silos left in Michigan. (That was the count back in 1999. I wonder about the status of the other...)
Click the gallery below to read the article
The above article was written about 19 years ago. My handsome pops made the picture! It’s true that our big barn accompanies one of the last standing wooden silo’s in Michigan!
Not many left and this one has out stood fierce winds and rain, snow, sleet. But now, it has a very bad hole in the roof, as does the rest of the barn. I'm terrified of it getting any worse. Not only that, but two of the load-bearing beams have rotted and broken in the Big Barn. In the last 4 years, it has gotten worse at a quickening pace. It's only a matter of time before it's knocked over for good
Digging into the property history, there is nothing in the state records or the deed to the property as to when the barns were built. Its a good guess that they were built before the house as this happened a lot of the time. So since the house was built in 1870, the barns were probably built before then. The silo does say Est 1836 (one year prior the the establishment of the state of Michigan). These barns just might be older than the state itself!
It’s not like me to beg for money from people but I did set up a Go Fund Me page in hopes that we could get some help with it before it’s too late. Wish us luck!!