THE HASSINGER HOUSE (THE FARM HOUSE)

The original farmhouse at Mountain Dale was quite small. When Ken's grandfather's barn in Middleburg became available for removal we saw it as a great way to expand our main living quarters. The developers gave us the barn (built circa 1900) free of charge. However, they set a tight deadline for removal; anything left standing past the specified date would be bulldozed. Two large trailers, a hoist truck, and about 20 friends and family joined together one May Saturday to disassemble the barn, which had been marked and diagramed by Ken. The trailers sat at Mountain Dale over a rainy summer till we had time in September to reassemble the pieces. Unfortunately, during the rain much of the lumber crayon markings washed off, and we were faced with a giant jigsaw puzzle requiring much trial and error to assemble.

An assistant helped us reassemble the structure with the use of a gin pole (a primitive tool that used a pulley to hoist the logs). Attached to the existing farm house, it now forms our Great Room. The logs came together and the roof went on just in time for the strong winter winds that threatened to rip it from its new location. The structure remained this way—with peacocks roosting on its beams—for eight years. When Ashley began kindergarten so did the final phase of remodeling; floors, windows, fireplace, and other finishing details were completed about 1990.

exterior
gold room
blue room
purple room
yellow room