Dendrochronology CPA at the Shepherd Barn 2017 2018 (1)To: John Frey, Sarah LaValley, Brian Adams & the CPC Committee
From: Laurie Sanders, Co-Director, Historic Northampton
Date: June 8, 2018
RE: Small Grant: On-Going Work at the Shepherd Barn
Progress Since Our Last Report (February 2017)
On April 1, 2017 the Shepherd Barn was explored by ~100 members of the North American Timber Framer’s Guild, which held its annual meeting in Northampton. Bill Flynt was on-hand and
shared his findings with the group, who explored both the upstairs & downstairs as well as the Parsons House (see photos below).
During spring 2017 a local historian volunteered to review the tax records from 1800 to 1806 to see if it was possible to determine exactly when the barn was constructed. The person
was not able to complete the work, but we hope to hire another historian to conduct this research (see 1799 Gazette notice) to see if the tax records reveal any new information.
As approved last year, we planned to use the remaining funds in this grant to install “new” gutters on the Shepherd Barn. The existing gutters were seriously rotted through, allowing
roof rainwater to land near the already compromised sills. In June 2017, in order to paint the Parsons House, its gutters were removed and replaced with new ones. Many of the Parsons
House gutters, however, were still in decent shape and Jim Flannery of Peak Performance Roofing agreed to install the best of these on the barn. Last fall he installed the back gutter
(see photo) and this spring (2018) he replaced the remaining gutters on the front of the barn (see photos). He decided not to charge for any of this work, which means that $1,000 still
remains in the account.
On May 2, 2018, architectural conservator Bill Flynt of Historic Deerfield presented a public program at Historic Northampton about his work on the Shepherd barn, including an overview
of how dendrochronology studies are done and the history this process reveals. Among the 30 people attending was a Gazette reporter, Andy Castillo, who subsequently wrote a detailed
story about Bill’s work and the Shepherd Barn, which appeared on the front page of the Gazette Living Section. It can be viewed at: http://www.gazettenet.com/Dispelling-myths-of-house-dates-17349762
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Expenses to Date
William Flynt, Consultant $1,300
Requested Use of Remaining Funds ($1,000)
If acceptable, we would like to request permission from the CPC to use the remaining $1,000 to hire a contractor to make basic repairs to the exterior of the barn including repairing
a door, replacing and painting exterior boards, and fixing a window pane (see images below). The expected cost of this work is ~$2,000. Historic Northampton will cover any expenses
over and above the original grant amount related to these activities.