Dominating the culture and the landscape of the new world well into the 20th Century, barns were centers of community, commerce and culture. Like the lifestyle and era they represent they are quickly fading into history. Neglect, Fire and the weather have claimed untold numbers of these beautiful buildings over the last 50 years. While some people will argue that it is the great churches and cathedrals or the vaunted skyscrapers and government buildings with their curtains of marble and glass that embody the North American Spirit I maintain it is the wooden barn.
For as long as man has kept animals and cultivated crops we have built barns to work and store them. In North America the barn has played a critical role since the first Europeans reached it shores. Even when the Viking settlement at L’Anse Aux Meadows was found dating back almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus’s birth was discovered the settlement centered on a pair of barns.
In my travels I occasionally come across a Mennonite Barn Raising. If you have never seen one it gives a great perspective on just how massive an undertaking it was to raise a barn. The framing of these massive buildings is impressive. Huge beams tied together with wooden pegs and wedges hold together tons of wood against time and the elements.
At Kimberley Jackson we bring this craftsmanship into your home. Our Timber-frame tables are built from Hand Hewn Beams and topped with two inch tops of solid wood. We build them with the attention to detail of barn raisers of old.
Our shop and store is filled with this history. Look just below the surface of that beautiful furniture and you will see the majestic barn beneath.
Jack
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