Amish Lead Rebuild of 100-Year-Old Barn – For Non-Amish Owners (Video)

Here’s a nice time-lapse video showing the restoration – really rebuilding – of an old barn which was destroyed in a wind storm.

The barn, described as a “100 Year Old Collapsed Barn”, had been bought by a non-Amish family (Vignette Farms) who were attempting to restore it (this is in Indiana). The family explains the back story:

We bought a beautiful 1860s home which is rated outstanding and eligible for historic landmark designation. We were restoring the barn and it totally collapsed during a spring storm.

In the video they call the destruction being due to “straight-line winds”. You can see it completely flattened the structure:

So they sought to have it rebuilt. How did they do the restoration? They first looked in non-Amish directions:

The first step in rebuilding was an internet plea to Indiana Barn Foundation for direction and help finding a crew to rebuild using the original post and beam framing construction with mortise and tenon joinery. It took over a year to find and schedule qualified and experienced craftsmen to tackle the big job. Historic preservationist professional, Duncan Campbell, was a valuable resource who pointed us in the right direction.

And an Amish team was found to help execute the project:

Every day was captured during the century-old barn rebuild, and the Amish team led by Ruben Schwartz salvaged, transported to their shop, cleaned, and repaired many of the original beams.

Not exactly a traditional Amish barn-raising

There are a few things that make this endeavor different from the most traditional Amish barn raisings.

For one, you can see in the video that they’re using some modern equipment (e.g., cranes) in concert with more traditional techniques.

It’s just a small crew they are using – not the many dozens of people like typically happens when an Amish community comes together.

And you’re not really seeing a lot of men who look identifiably Amish. To be honest, it looks like more non-Amish people are involved than Amish.

However, it does look like some Amish youth are involved (their dress and appearance does not always fit the mold for a classic Amish look). For instance here is a young guy hammering a peg in with a wooden mallet:

And this appears to be the same fellow trimming a peg down to size.

Likewise, raising of the main structure takes place over several days, rather than a single day which is more the norm.

You can also see that the project is completed in a different season than when it was started – the corn is down and the clothing has gotten a lot heavier.

But in any case, a neat rebuild video – and a project which sounds like it was at least led by the Amish.