Page 24 RAIN July 1981 Practical Plans for Barns, Carriage Houses, Stables and Other Country Buildings, by William Radford (1908) with additions by David and Joan Loveless, 1978, 206pp., $8.95 from: The Berkshire Traveller Press Stockbridge, MA 01262 "The difficulty of doing things just right in the United States is that we are in too much of a hurry to get satisfactory results." Although the bulk of this book was written in 1908, its wisdom is still timely and its advice is as solid and straightforward as the structures described. What is it about barns and carriage houses that makes them so appealing? I think it is just this solidity, this sense of utility housed in simple traditional shapes. To Radford there is no such thing as just a "barn," but rather there is the "Gothic Barn" ("if the horse barn is near the house and if the house has a steep roof the barn should have a similar roof to be in keeping"), or the "Cheap Horse Barn" ("It is a barn that would suit the average merchant who is engaged in other business besides actual storekeeping"), or my favorite, the "Pretentious Stock Barn" ("This pretentious stock barn is very complete .. . it will accommodate 100 head of cattle and 9 horses."). This is not, however, a really "practical" book if it's building plans you're looking for. Replicating these structures from the drawings represented would take more than a little skill and ingenuity. Even the contemporary barn re-use additions by the Loveless' are not presented for copying. Instead, this is a barn lovers book, a folk history lovers book, a book for yankees and rebels and backyard homesteaders. -CC RAIN 2270 NW Irving, Portland, OR 97210 (503) 227-5110 • The English carriage house of today was built after hundreds of years of experimenting until the location of every plank, the size and direction of every door and window was determined without any further question in regard to the possibility of the slightest improvement. CROI.JND T-LOOR PL,41\/ I JC4L2:. ...1.-~±~1-LL.t FZZ.T- L:::::::l~~=~~:U From Practical Plans for Barns
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