The Old Texan
The Barn
The Barn
Built 1810-1820
The Barn's first home was on a small homestead that was
nestled in the Hackensack Valley of New Jersey,where it was
skillfully crafted in the early years of the 19th century.
Built from hand hewn oak timbers and utilizing mortise and tenon joinery.
The Barn is a rare structure in that it features a combination of
classic design from both traditional Dutch and English architecture.
Over it's two centuries of existence, it witnessed a rapidly changing
American culture and landscape. One of the barn's owners in the
early 20th century was a writer named Herbert Collingwood who,
lamenting the demise of the small family farm brought on by the
Industrial Revolution,longingly named the parcel,"Hope Farm"
In 1997, faced with the prospect of demolished to make way for
new development,the"Hope Farm" barn was given another chance.
Craftsman traveled east,carefully dismantled,restored the structure,
and then raised it again as a gallery and gift shop filled with handcrafted
items from community artisans. Now nearly twenty years into it's second
life, The Barn has become and integral part of the Homestead Craft Village,
where tens of thousands of visitors pass through each year, many finding
inspiration and hope that small agrarianism and traditional community
are finding their way back.
The Barn
The Barn
Built 1810-1820
The Barn's first home was on a small homestead that was
nestled in the Hackensack Valley of New Jersey,where it was
skillfully crafted in the early years of the 19th century.
Built from hand hewn oak timbers and utilizing mortise and tenon joinery.
The Barn is a rare structure in that it features a combination of
classic design from both traditional Dutch and English architecture.
Over it's two centuries of existence, it witnessed a rapidly changing
American culture and landscape. One of the barn's owners in the
early 20th century was a writer named Herbert Collingwood who,
lamenting the demise of the small family farm brought on by the
Industrial Revolution,longingly named the parcel,"Hope Farm"
In 1997, faced with the prospect of demolished to make way for
new development,the"Hope Farm" barn was given another chance.
Craftsman traveled east,carefully dismantled,restored the structure,
and then raised it again as a gallery and gift shop filled with handcrafted
items from community artisans. Now nearly twenty years into it's second
life, The Barn has become and integral part of the Homestead Craft Village,
where tens of thousands of visitors pass through each year, many finding
inspiration and hope that small agrarianism and traditional community
are finding their way back.