Preservation Projects

Reusing Historical Structures

Many old barns, buildings, and homes in Ohio were framed up with hand-hewn beams shaped from hardwood trees felled on the property where the building was erected. Wood like this is not found today at the local lumber supply house. The virgin-growth timbers used in these early structures are a rare commodity.

When we find a timber frame building in disrepair that cannot be restored for use where it stands, we want to carefully number every piece, dismantle and save the timbers to re-erect somewhere else in the creation of a new and different home, barn, or business.

Here we are painstakingly salvaging the Harmon M. Longsdorf barn, built in 1857 and signed by the builder! Truly unique. This barn’s timbers have been carefully marked for reassembly and stored away for a future project. Have something in mind?

GreenTech Construction recycles and repurposes timber frames like that in the Longsdorf barn above. An example of the repurposing of a barn to form core structural and decorative elements can be seen in the modern SIP home below, where the new SIP envelope is wrapped around a sturdy salvaged timber frame barn. This barn was discovered in Waynesville, Ohio. It was first erected in 1828, and was transported to Delaware County where it found new life in 2000.

A perfectly respectful marriage of old and new, we would say, and a precious resource saved for generations to come.

Robert McCoy Cellar

Delaware County’s Trails End development used to be a farm, originally purchased in 1802 by Thomas Cellar, father of Robert. GreenTech Construction was contracted to save the farm’s house and barn.

The earliest barn is seen on the left. Built in 1830 it was only 25’x50′. Around 1900 the 50’x100′ section to the right was added.

Exterior view of the Robert McCoy Cellar barn restoration.

This is the interior of the restored barn’s new home.

Robert M. Cellar had this timber frame house built for himself in 1840. This frame is waiting for a new owner. His descendants pose by the original chimney and below show the original 1802 flintlock rifle that Thomas Cellar brought with him to Ohio in 1802, a year before we became recognized as a state.

Upper Arlington Saves a Barn.

This is the barn as it stood on Lane Road in Upper Arlington.

Dismantling the barn frame. Each piece is numbered for reassembly.

Raising the restored frame with volunteers including those from Friends of Ohio Barns and The Timber Framers Guild.

The additional larger new Douglass Fir frame on the left adds much needed space to the original antique frame on the right.

The completed Amelita Mirolo Barn at Sunny 95 Park is enjoyed by the community for numerous events. Image from https://upperarlingtonoh.gov/city-facilities/amelita-mirolo-barn.