Craig Log Cabin restoration in full swing – or shave

As the sap begins to flow in area trees, Kevin Brennan, a craftsman working on the renovation of the historic Craig Log Cabin, explains that the best time to cut down trees for a log cabin is in the winter, when the sap has gone out of the trees. “The logs are less likely to warp, and they’re lighter.”

Brennan was passing along this bit of woodland lore as he used an aged, but well cared-for, Wilkinson draw knife or bark-shaver on a winter-cut log. It would replace one of the 150-plus year-old original logs in the log cabin that had finally succumbed to the effects of weather.
In less than a month the log cabin, one of Bloomfield Township’s oldest structures, should be looking more presentable. It was moved last fall from its original location on Lone Pine Road to a new home on the Bowers Farm. Along with a few replacement logs it will also have a “new” roof of reclaimed hand-hewn cedar shakes. Still more restoration work will be done as additional funds are raised.

The cabin and the Barton Farmhouse are projects of Preservation Bloomfield, a joint effort of Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Hills Schools and the Bloomfield Historical Society to preserve some of the area’s past to inform its future.

Come and Join Us for an Old-fashioned Gingerbread Brunch

Thursday, December 11, 2008
9:30 in the morning

Oakland Hills Country Club
3951 West Maple Road
Bloomfield Hills

Watch as Donna Rorabaugh, National Gingerbread House Winner, decorates a sample of her prize winning work

Win one of several houses donated by famous pastry chefs and other notable local residents

Invitation (PDF)

Historic house brings together 4 B's

What do the 4-B's, the Charter Township of Bloomfield, the City of Bloomfield Hills, the Bloomfield Hills School District and the Bloomfield Historical Society have in common besides "Bloomfield"?

An 1830's Greek Revival house that must be saved in order to continue telling their shared history.

When the property on which the house has stood was sold recently to the Mancini Development Company, the house did not fit into the plans for an upscale development composed of estate-sized homes. Recognizing the historic importance of the house, the Mancini brothers offered it to the City of Bloomfield Hills for $1 provided that the City would move it elsewhere by Spring of 2008.

 

Hills' Mayor Pat Hardy contacted Historical Society President Pam Carmichael, Township Supervisor Dave Payne and Schools Superintendent Steve Gaynor to determine the possibility of moving the farmhouse about a mile north to the School District's Bowers Farm.

In October 2007, all four bodies met in an unprecedented joint public meeting to discuss how to save the building, one of the last remaining examples of an architectural form that was once called "America's National Style" and particularly prevalent throughout Michigan during the middle of the 1800s.

Built as early as 1832, presumably by pioneer farmer James Benjamin, on a hundred acres of land adjoining the Bloomfield Centre Road (now Long Lake Road), the house has been home to a small number of owners. Their history exemplifies the changes in Oakland County's Bloomfield area from primarily rural and agricultural to country estates owned by some of the Detroit area's most prominent families, to a comfortable suburban community.

By the early part of the Twentieth Century three sisters, heirs of George Hendrie the "Father of Detroit's Street Railways" and one of the wealthiest men of his generation, bought the farmhouse and turned it into a country retreat and gathering place for their friends and relatives from Grosse Pointe. Jessie, Margaret and Sarah Hendrie were well known in Grosse Pointe for their many charitable activities - and for their love of riding and hunting. Along with their brothers George T. and William they were instrumental in founding the Bloomfield Open Hunt Club, across Long Lake Road from the home they chose to name The Covert.

 

In 1937, open ground for riding and hunting was diminishing as much of the neighboring farmland was being turned into smaller homesites. The Hendries sold the house to Carl O. Barton, founder of Barton Malow Construction. For the next seventy years the house was home to Carl and his family who lived a comfortable life among nearly 25 acres of woods, streams and gardens.

Time being of the essence, the 4-B's decided to hold their first-time joint meeting to determine both interest and feasibility. As a result of the meeting, the School Board voted to provide space in a newly created Bowers Farm Historic Park. By finally having a Farmhouse at the 85-acre Farm, numerous opportunities would be created to show children of all ages what life was like as Bloomfield, and the County as a whole, grew into maturity. It is also anticipated that once the house is moved it will become "home" to the Bloomfield Historical Society.

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Barton Farmhouse gets dressed for the holidays

The "old girl" gets settled in her new home at the Bowers Farm. The new foundation, using many of the stones from the original Barton site, nearly completes Phase One of the Barton Farmhouse.

Phase Two: Restoration involves adapting the house to its new roles as educator and community center. Funds for Phase Two: Restoration are being sought from foundations and other grant sources as well as from the local community -- both public and private sources.

Businesses interested in participating either by providing services or developing in-kind marketing partnerships are invited to contact Preservation Bloomfield via e-mail to info@preservationbloomfield.org.

THANK YOU!

It's THERE!
The Barton Farmhouse has come back to a Farm. Both sections made it successfully and are awaiting a more permanent foundation.

Thank you so much to all of you who have contributed to the enormous success of Part One from all of us at Preservation Bloomfield and the Save the Barton Farmhouse Committee.

Now comes the fun part. We need to put everything together again so that it becomes a living symbol of what a community can do to preserve its heritage and build for its future.

If you haven't contributed yet, or even if you have, think about adding some more (the Make a Donation button is over there on the left).

Come drive by what you've accomplished and see its potential.

It's a marvelous story and it's all yours!

What happened after the Groundbreaking

By Wednesday afternoon, July 9, excavation for the new basement for the Barton Farmhouse at the Bowers Farm had been completed and the two sections of the Farmhouse that will be moved had been separated from the newer (c 1920) additions and were on what are called 'cribs' getting ready for The Move.

Barton Farmhouse FUN WALK!!!

Please join us in walking behind the historic Barton Farmhouse as it moves from its current location to the Bowers School Farm on Tuesday, July 15th, where the community will be able to appreciate and enjoy it for years to come!

Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Time: Anytime between 9:00 AM and 12 PM
Distance: About 1.5 miles (walk all or part!)

Pledge Form (PDF)

The Farmhouse Returns to the Farm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Betsy Erikson, 248-341-5422, berikson@bloomfield.org

Historic Barton House to hit the road:
Community invited to “ride” along as a celebration and fundraiser

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