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were deciding upon the design," said Becky. "We were careful to make sure
it fits the area. There was a lot of personal preparation in terms of understanding
what we wanted to have.
"But we'd lived with the house and the property
long enough to really know what we wanted," she said.
After two years of saving money and researching designs and builders, the
Morans settled upon Stonington Post & Beam of Connecticut.
"The barn
is as close to traditional as we could get while still taking advantage
of modern capabilities," said Tom. "There are no pegs. We used spikes instead.
If they had spikes back then, they would have used them, too.
"We like
to preserve history yet conduct a normal life around it," he said.
When complete, the barn will have the same window configuration as the ell
on the house. The |
front gable end will be shingled, with board siding on the
remainder of the exterior. Two cedar trees were left in place to frame the
front door.
"It makes it look like something that didn't just fall
out of the sky," said Tom.
"We are very pleased they are so interested
in the property and bringing back the flavor of the neighborhood," said
Nancy Thatcher Reid, chairman of the Dennis Historic Commission. "They're
doing a great job."
The contractor set the frame in less than two days in June. The Morans will
do the remaining work themselves.
"It was a steady stream of people
the first day [of work]. We had a barn-raising party without us really planning
one," said Becky. "Fifteen or 20 people stopped by."
While there have been no crowds of spectators since that first day, curiosity
has proven too strong for many to resist.
"People stopped by the other
day that we'd never met. They |
asked if they could take a look at, the barn. We're meeting
lots of nice folks," said Tom. "There's an advantage to having people stop
and share history."
It's also part of living in a small town, said Becky. "We really wanted
that sense of community, to have community ties," she said.
They also really wanted a historic home and were drawn to Dennis for its
historic character. While still dating, the two spent weekends looking for
old homes, finally settling upon Howes Tavern in 1995.
"We bought the
house as somewhere to end up when we were 50," said Tom.
Instead, the couple went into business for themselves as technology startup
consultants and moved full-time to the Cape in December of 1996.
"We're
finding a way to be here, to make it work," said Tom. "And now I get to
take conference calls while banging a hammer. It's not bad at all."
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