Building a Home with Reclaimed Barn Wood Features

Hello! I’m Cindy Gray, and in this series of blog posts, I’ll share my home-building story, focusing on design features that incorporate Whatman Hardwood’s reclaimed barn wood. I hope that some detail from my experience will assist you on your journey of using barn wood in your home.

How it Started

Back in 1992, my husband and I planned to build a house on our property. Finally, in 2023—thirty-one years later—the construction began! During our early days of dreaming about our new home, we envisioned a log home. Over the years, I probably sketched at least 7,000 plans because every time we attended a log home show, visited a model home, or saw something inspiring in a magazine, I would change my design. Eventually, we decided that a log home would require too much maintenance as we grew older, but we still wanted wood to be a prominent feature in our home.

Why didn’t I choose an existing plan? First, I’m a very creative person and wanted my home to reflect my ideas and personality. Second, due to the layout of the land and the views I wanted from my windows, I needed a specific type of layout. Lastly, despite my search, I couldn’t find a plan that met my needs.

I wanted a home that reflected my personality and style. Farm life and barns have played a significant role in my life. My sister and I were the fourth generation born on our farm, where we grew up playing in an old white barn built in the mid-1800s. I have fond memories of making tunnels in the hay, swinging from the rafters to jump into big hay piles, and creating a Halloween spook walk in the barn.

Our big white barn built in the mid-1800s

Like many old barns, ours eventually became unsafe, and I was heartbroken when in had to come down. During that process, my husband and I salvaged several large, hand-hewn barn beams to use in the house we planned to build.

After saving our beams, we discovered reclaimed barn wood furnishings and the craftsmanship of Whatman Hardwoods. We were impressed by the idea of repurposing old barns to create new items for homes, and we loved the rustic style and beauty of the wood. This inspired us to redesign our home with reclaimed hardwood features.

Our search for a builder began at that point. Many companies claim to be “custom” builders, but most are not. They typically offer only a limited selection of products for your home. Additionally, most builders were unwilling to work with us when we mentioned our desire to use reclaimed barn wood. Even when we found a company that would reluctantly agree to accommodate our requests, they charged exorbitant prices for these features. In 2019, we finally found a builder willing to collaborate with us, but just as we were about to finalize our plans, COVID-19 hit. Prices soared, and we could no longer afford to build the house we had envisioned. We decided to wait out the economic impacts of the pandemic, hoping that prices would eventually come down.

After a few years, even though lumber prices had decreased, the costs of other materials continued to rise. We decided to start over and design a smaller house, measuring 1,600 square feet, while still prioritizing key features. These included large windows that offered a view of the pond, a fireplace with windows on either side, a spacious attached garage, a mudroom entry, a horse-themed second bathroom, and a soaking tub positioned beside a large picture window. Additionally, we wanted a first-floor office with a window seat, a laundry room on the first floor, and a walkout basement. Inspired by images of Whatman Hardwoods products and ideas from Pinterest, I gathered concepts and created sketches of the features I wanted for my new home to share with prospective builders.

Products found on whatmanhardwoods.com that inspired designs in my home.

We finally found a builder we could work with: Steve Thomas Builders! We collaborated with Steve and Tim Whatman to create plans for incorporating reclaimed barn wood products into our home. I appreciated Tim’s expertise in determining the dimensions and features of the products, as well as how he coordinated with the builder to ensure everything would fit properly. And then the work began!

Stay tuned for the continued story, room by room! Next up: the foyer and office.

 Contact Tim Whatman today to discuss your custom barn wood furniture project.