Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn
The Connected New England Farm
Big house, little house, back house, barn. This is a term I had never heard until last year. And as it turns out, we own what is lovingly known as a “connected farm” in New England. We purchased a big, very old, and abandoned center chimney colonial style farmhouse that has an attached carriage house and barn. Big house refers to the original portion of the house. Little house refers to the addition that was added in the 1800’s. Back house refers to the carriage house, and then of course there’s the barn.
The photos shared here are before photos, once we got the yard cleaned up. No one had lived here for about five years, and you could barely tell there was a house or barn behind all of the invasive species’ overgrowth. New siding, a new roof, and windows are now installed on the main house and our interior restorations are currently underway. We started in December of 2023, and slowly but surely making progress. We are weekend warrior-ing the interior as we both have more than full time jobs and hoping to move in this summer!
The home was built in 1767, and historians in town believe the barn is original and perhaps even older than the main house. Families would live in the barn with their animals while their home was being built, which allowed them to establish their agriculture as their means of livelihood. Wanting to learn more, I found this book Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn by Thomas C. Hubka and highly recommend it for anyone interested in New England and early farm buildings.
Our restoration plan starts in the big house and little house, where we will be living, and our goal is to restore and preserve the precious carriage house and barn. Part of the carriage house is likely to become a wood shop for Rich, and there is an entire open second floor of the carriage house (will include photos in future posts) that has gorgeous wood floors and is begging to have company again. Our town’s historical society describes this space as home to a shoe cobbler and shoe shop once upon a time. And then there’s the barn. The barn will be restored and protected. We feel lucky that it is more or less structurally sound, as weathered as it is. We got engaged last year and if we can find a way to bring the barn back to life within a reasonable amount of time, we would love to use it as part of our ceremony or reception.
Thank you for reading, so much more to come!
Carly