One of Hampton’s most famous homes is “The House the Women Built” which Susan Griggs in Folklore and Firesides describes as “a monument to the energy and courage of the women of the Revolution” who assisted Sarah Hammond with the construction of her home using the timbers her fiancé, Uriel Mosley, felled right before he answered the patriots’ call to arms. “Maids and matrons, working like men, hoisted beams, and joists, which, mortised and pinned, went into place like clock-work” to erect the home which Sarah and Uriel lived in for half of a century and still stands today. Two hundred years later, neighbors gathered together to complete construction on a home for another Hampton family who lost their patriarch in a tragic accident. In between, there were, undoubtedly, many communal projects, including barn-raising, a collective action common in the 18th and 19th centuries. Building homes for friends and for their animals is a way of life for our new neighbors, the Mennonite families, and they’re no longer alone in this endeavor as a barn was recently raised on the property of Pat and Jamie Boss, who share their story and photographs of the progress here. We thank them for their contribution to the newspaper and to a tradition of “our rural heritage”.
First Light Farm: We Give Thanks
Everyone has their own reasons to give thanks during the Thanksgiving holiday season. Good health, financial security, a job you enjoy, finding an app to safely secure all your passwords. The list is unique to everyone and can be endless. This year Pat and Jamie Boss have a unique reason to give thanks, one that not many people get to experience anymore, the deep appreciation for good family and friends who helped raise a barn. Although the timber frame structure this group of people raised in an afternoon is not technically a barn, but actually a backyard retreat, it was nonetheless a “barn-raising”.
This barn raising was the realization of a three year old dream for Pat and Jamie. The two are very interested in timber frame structures since they live in a converted barn. While doing some research on timber framing in the summer of 2016, they found a school that offered timber frame instruction classes. One class offered the chance for the building constructed in the class to be purchased. Working with Will Beemer, the school’s owner/director, a building plan was created and the class was scheduled for the following year. In June 2017 they attended the Heartwood School for the Homebuilding Crafts in Washington, Massachusetts. Along with 20 other students and school interns, Pat and Jamie sawed, chiseled, kerfed, bored and drilled large timbers for a week, ultimately crafting the wood into a 12’x16’ timber frame structure. The structure was assembled on the last day of class to fine tune the fit, then subsequently disassembled and transported to the Boss home in Hampton. Here it waited for its final assembly.
In late August an open invitation was sent out soliciting volunteers to help “raise a barn” and thankfully people agreed to help. On Sunday, September 8th, the day was finally here for the timber frame structure to be raised. On this beautiful late summer day, the fun started with a BBQ, while team members acquainted themselves with one another. Family members got to meet friends and neighbors for the first time while old friends got to catch up with one another. After a brief review of the overall plan and the all-important discussion about job site safety, gloves and hardhats were made available for those needing them.
Construction of the structure had already started a week earlier as Jamie prepared the site by installing and leveling the 8’x8’ timber sill of the building on concrete piers. Now starting from the north end, the team began by assembling and raising the first bent and safely securing it. A bent is comprised of two posts and a tie beam connecting the posts. This was the team’s first effort together and it went very smoothly. Next was the challenge of raising the second bent. This is where the process really requires a lot of team work as wind braces and girts all need to be inserted into both bents as the second is raised into place. What makes the process particularly challenging isn’t just managing all the moving parts, but that some of those parts are 7”x 8” pieces of lumber twelve feet long. Add in the fact that 99% of the workforce tackling this effort was over the age of 50, meant that Jamie spent hours developing a plan that supplemented brute force with the diesel powered kind. Pulleys, ropes and a Kubota tractor did some of the heaviest lifting in the beginning but the people on the team made it all happen. Working together they made all the pieces fit perfectly. Now onto raising the third and final bent. This bent holds the door frame, so making sure all the pieces fit together was important. Just like before, girts and braces needed to be fit into both the second and third bent as they are joined together. Once again, teamwork was key and everyone did a marvelous job making it all come together.
Up until now, the weight of the timbers had been manageable, but the next step in the process meant lifting a top plate, an 8”x 8” timber eighteen feet long, up in the air, and down onto three bents and four wind braces. All seven tenons need to fit into the matching mortice slot on this huge and heavy beam. Using ropes and pulleys, the beam was lifted to a position where it could be aligned and set into place. Starting at one end, with the opposite end held high in the air, the team guided each tenon into place. Some of the joints required a little extra persuasion. This was done by using a very large mallet commonly called a “commander”. Nothing but shear muscle power and determination made this happen. It was impressive to watch. The placement of this beam was celebrated and the team moved onto the installation of the second and final top plate. Armed with the knowledge and experience from raising the first beam, the installation of the second one went much easier. Although lifting and moving and aligning an 8”x 8”, eighteen foot long timber and fitting it on seven joints is no easy task, they made it look simple. Everyone could now rest knowing they had successfully completed what they set out to do some four hours earlier. A few days later the roof rafters were joined and secured in place by Jamie and Jim McMillen.
The timber frame structure is now completely assembled and is ready for the next phase. The roofing will be put in place, followed by walls, a floor, a door and some windows. This is all thanks to the generous help of family and friends. Pat and Jamie want to share their deep appreciation for all of the help and hard work to everyone that “raised a barn”. To the women who got the day started by cooking the food to fuel the efforts, and to the men and women who worked together beautifully, that pushed and pulled the large timbers into place and to the people who showed up to cheer everyone on. They are Dayna, India, and Juan Arriola, Jamie Boss, Jr., Taylor Boss, Bob Burgoyne, Linda, Marisa, and Roger Burten, Anne Christie, Andrew and Liam Delaney, Chris, Dick, and Sue Dodge, Sue Hochstetter, Franklin and Gloria Lowe, Mary and Jim McMillen, Steve Russo, and Sue Way.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Pat & Jamie Boss