Old Barn Restoration – The Helen B Johnson Memorial Barn

Old Barn Restoration
The Helen B Johnson Memorial Barn

The old barn was unusable for horses when we inherited the property. As neglected & forlorn as the barn was, at one time it was a special place to property donor Helen Johnson.

Now littered with debris, infested with wasps & with up to 3 feet of manure in the stalls, just undertaking the initial clean out was a daunting prospect.

After removing the manure it was discovered that the floorboards were completely rotted. Thus, we decided to repurpose the barn as a hay-alfalfa storage area.

First we needed to remove all the stall panels. We repurposed most of the wood & created picnic tables. These tables were a necessity for events & for our proposed summer camps.

Next, we dedicated all revenue from our Sanctuary Open House towards a cement pad. At the same time we undertook additional grading & leveling around the barn & constructing hard pack gravel pathways. This work was completed due to a generous 10K grant from longtime donors L&L.

We will be dedicating our improved & updated barn in the near future to property donor Helen B Johnson.