ML and I spent many happy hours prowling for barns on the backroads. She is an avid barn hunter, and we were in Barn Heaven. Go outside a town, travel in any direction, and you run into barns--new barns, old barn, maintained barns, dilapidated barns, and everything in between. We got to the point (not wanting to stop at every barn we passed) of labeling some barns "whizzers" because they didn't have that "wow" factor enough to make us stop or even turn around (which we did do several several times), but were ordinary enough that we could just whizz by them.
This beauty, complete with old weathered outbuildings, was at the end of a dirt road...what a find! ML, who is much braver than I am, has no qualms about going onto a property, knocking at the door, and asking to photograph the barn.
We passed by this one and had to do a screeching stop on the side of the road. Just couldn't resist all that sag and lean on the end. It is beginning to fold in on itself, and will collapse one of these winters in the high winds and storms. The owner (not of the original family) said the barn is over 100 years old. We saw a lot of centennial farms where the original barn is still in use.
While we were oohing and ahing over the barn, someone got curious and stuck his head around the corner to see what was going on. The owner of the barn said that this guy had been owned by the Amish, and he is now enjoying retirement.
Imagine our delight when we got up to Traverse City and discovered that there is an entire area set aside for the preservation of old barns. So, we printed off a map and off we went to see what we could discover. Plenty! Some of the barns have been restored (like this one), others were in mid-preservation, and there were many that were still holding their ground, weathered and worn but standing strong. The majority of the barns are on NPS-owned land, so we were free to park and wander and explore to our heart's content.
As we looked at this barn we moaned "If only we could be here in the fall!" Autumn in Michigan is an explosion of colors, just like New England. This old barn, and others like it, would be stunning against the multi-colored backdrop. Since this one was privately owned, we had to be content with shooting from the shoulder of the road.
I love the amount of detail work that went into the cupola. It is just a little touch of whimsy on an otherwise plain, no-nonsense barn.
4 comments:
Oh my goodness...I love barns too. Such wonderful ones you found!!
We have a barn that is close to 100 years old on our property, but it is both in use and in disrepair. I would love to have folks stop and ask to photograph it. In fact, I should probably start photographing it myself more often - did that for the first few years we owned the property, and then it go "ho-hum" to me. I too live in a good location for going out to photograph barns. Time to get my rear out of the house in the evenings and do just that!
These are magnificent - and I am so jealous. I so want to go on a barn hunting trip.
My kind of vacation - hunting for old barns!! Love all the barns you captured!
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