Milk House Converted to Farm Office August 2010

The Milk House was originally attached to the old barn by an 8' breezeway.  The barn 40' x 60' had a silo and several appendages, was the home to the Bradley family cow herd in the 1930's and 1940's.  The barn like many, no longer had a purpose and fell into ruin by the late 1980's.  It finally collapsed in the 1990's.  With the restoration of the tillage field across the lane, and the views of the hills beyond, we decided not to replace the barn in that location.

When we put in a new septic system in 2006, we built it below the milk house thinking that we would need plumbing in the barn.  After several summers of farm help using the house for the plumbing, we decided to add a bathroom to the outside of the milk house and to add an 8' covered porch to get farm help out of the sun.  We will be adding a refrigerator to the office so that farm hands can bring their own lunch and keep it cool.  

The lake side of the building will have a separate toilet room, the large wash sink from the summer house, (2'x4') and an enclosed outdoor shower.  We will add propane on demand hot water for the shower and the sink.  We finished the fall season by planting several lilacs from the front yard around the milk house.  The Celebration maple added in August 2009 is now 6' closer to the milk house and looks great.

Brick House Great Room Floor

After finishing the fireplace, it was time to fix the floor which had a big bump in it.  Jeff Coffin returned to pull up the floor, remove the forms for the concrete base, build a crawl to the summer house and replace the flooring that did not match after the mantle and wall were removed.

A new fir floor was installed.  The folks from Zimba Plastering returned to get the walls on both sides of the fireplace re plastered and the ceiling finished.  Jean Moore returned to paint it all up before Josh Wagner arrived to sand and finish the floors.  Josh did a great job and blended the old with the new very well.

2010 Corn Crib Renewal

The garage is actually an old corn with additions and the tool room added on the lake end of the building.  The building had melted into the ground over many years.  Initial jacking had buckled the roll roofing and finally a tarp was applied for the winter in 2009 to keep some of the water out.

John Webster and his son arrived in late April to jack the building and add a new floor system.  They spent several weeks getting the building straightened out and the eves once again look great.

Jesse ordered new flooring, 2 1/2" by 10" green hemlock in 14 and 16 foot lengths.  Jake Pray assisted Jesse with the install and the planks weighted over 150lbs each wet.

The roof was ably repaired by sistering all of the rough sawn 2x4's with new rough sawn 2x6's.  New rough sawn pine boards were added to the roof to replace those that had rotted.  A new door was added to the north end of the Corn Crib to allow entry without opening the front swinging doors.  Denny Olsen who skis with Jesse came down from Carrabassett Valley to do the bulk of the work on the roof and we hired Mike Long of Rome to assist Denny reworking the rakes and eves before re shingling the roof to give the building a new life if not a new look.

The Corn Crib will get a new roof over the tool room and get new siding the summer of 2011.  It can be reported however that the building is high and dry.  Thank you John Webster, Denny and Mike.

2009 Recapped

Bryan Family Visit Gets 2nd Floor Finished

We were blessed with a visit from Bill & Pam Bryan, Jenni's cousins from Montana. Bill spent many days on the farm growing up in Waterville. Bill brought his son Joe and grandson Lief with him. We managed a trip in the boat with Grampy Bill for a trip to Days Store for a fresh

donut. The housekeeping crew finished minutes before their arrival.

In honor of the Bryan visit, Jesse decided that he would begin the long process of replanting the farm. After much consulting with Jeff O'Donal, of O'Donals Nursury, and with Bill Bryans input, a silver maple was chosen with the name of Celebration Maple.

We planted the new offering below the old Milk House, far enough away to allow for the expansion of the Milk House into a farm office.

The tree was positioned to shade the Milk House in the coming years. We expect the Bryan to return again soon to see their tree.

New Fireplace and Chimney Started October 2009

The old bake oven was exposed and the chimney and fireplace were reviewed by the one and only Albie Barton from Maine Wood Heat of Norridgewock, Maine. It took 6 weeks for Jesse and his laborers to tear the old chimney and fireplace down.

The wood heater sits in the old kitchen replacing the wood stove and the old bake oven.  This heater has a heated bench and a small bake oven above the firebox.  After seeing the amount of room that could be added to the great room, Jenni asked to have both doors to the vestibules and the wall removed.

The building of the heater took 8 weeks and a tower was built to cover the top of the new chimney to allow it to dry properly in the winter cold.  This was the major hurtle in getting the brick house livable.

Scott Barden, Albie's son, sets the first fire Jan 2010

Plaster & Paint July 2009

JULY 2009

After replacing the front windows of the brick house, we began to paint and plaster in order to get the house ready for family visitor July 31st. Zimba Plastering of Fairfield did a fabulous job. We removed wallpaper from the front rooms and painted the blue floors with a British tan. Keith Moore of Skowhegan ran the painting crew and did a great job making all of the old woodwork come alive.

New Windows

How do you replace wooden windows in an old brick farmhouse? Call your best one eyed carpenter. Nearly an impossible job as the building has settled and nothing is square. This we knew would require the skills of the one and only Jeff Coffin who has solved similar problems for and with us in the past. Jeff has spent a good part of April working thru the issues and the windows look great.

The other major improvement to the house is the removal of the ceiling in the great room. John Rohner painstakingly removed the plaster and then the lathe to find that the 5" dip in the ceiling was caused by the square nails holding the strapping, having given way. The floor joists between the hand hewn beams were very level and will not require additional structural work. Ron Pare the electrician who rewired the first floor last year will soon be back to run a few more cables before we close up the ceiling.

Out on the farm, we cleared the acre north of the orchard for expansion of the fruit trees and we cleared the ridge field back to the stone wall to the east. While the stumping is not yet complete, we now have the land to plant grapes and berries where they belong. Mark Fulford, our soils adviser made a recent visit and has given us guidance on the next steps to prep for the new planting areas.




Out in the big field the fall crop of oats did well and we are preparing to plant again within a few weeks. Above the tillage field, we began clearing for an equipment barn late last year. David Hallowell our sitework contractor has been busy and has cleared some more after advising us to move the barn back up the hill. We have added an irrigation pond in our laydown yard and stone cribs for storing rock, mulch and compost.

Bradley was home several weekends this winter for skiing at Sugarloaf and he managed to add some ideas to how things should look and work. Pictured below from left to right are, John Rohner, Bradley Abbott and David Hallowell.

Lakeshore Farm 2009

The farm continued it's rebirth right thru the month of Jan when the front parlor chimney was relined for use with a wood stove. The Vermont Casting Intrepid woodstove had been purchased from the illustrious Bryant Stove Company over in Thorndike. If you haven't been there, Bee Bryant and her stove collection are world famous. A real Maine treasure.

The upstairs has a refurbished bathroom and the bedrooms have had the falling ceilings removed, reframed and replaced along with insulation and a fine coat of paint.

These rooms will be ready for summer 2009 occupancy. We are hopeful that with the front patio completed in October 2008 that we can now start living and enjoying the farm from the front side as we continue to work on the rest of the house.