Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Kramlich barn
Kramlich barn
Kramlich barn
Contractor Jon Skoglun skip-sheaths the Gothic roof last Saturday, removing the 1919 barn's original shingles.
The Kramlich barn work is being paid for by a $27,200 matching grant from the Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation.
Skoglun's nylon ratcheting straps have straightened the barn more than two feet to the west since he began.
Pieces of cedar fluttered through the air, landing in green field grass – back to the ground after 97 years on top of the Kramlich Barn, on the east edge of Colfax.
High atop the sloped Gothic-arch roof, Jon Skoglun of Cashmere swung a claw hammer last Saturday afternoon, April 23, the latest in a series of weekends dedicated to the contract, paid for by the Cocking family and a matching grant from the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
Inside the barn – on land owned by Cocking farms – common nylon yellow ratcheting straps criss-cross the second floor hay loft, a mechanism that has righted the barn by more than two feet since October.
“It's very difficult to find contractors to work on old barns,” said Penny Cocking of Seattle.
She and her daughter plan to use the barn and the two acres surrounding it for Rural Roots, a small organic farm operation, to grow native, edible plants, including Einkorn wheat.
“The most ancient wheat in the world,” said Cocking, the daughter of Paul Cocking of Colfax. “To let people know that they can grow it here.”
Penny's efforts began five years ago, when she started to apply for grants.
Eventually chosen last year for the matching preservation funds, she began a search in earnest for a contractor.
By early April, Skoglun was inside the barn’s loft as the floor turned white from a hailstorm, pellets dropping right through the weathered roof – its iron hay claw still hanging from its track.
Last weekend, Skoglun continued skip sheathing – stripping clear the horizontal 1 X 8 boards of the cedar shingles.
Work to follow includes concrete foundation repair on the south wall and further support for the cupola – the top center “steeple” for ventilation. Skoglun built a temporary scaffold inside the loft under the cupola, which has sunk from its original height.
Skoglun, who works during the week in Facilities Maintenance for the Washington State Department of Transportation, is now on his fourth barn restoration.
“It was out of plumb, it had a severe lean to the east,” he said. He estimated the Kramlich Barn had five years remaining until it would have fallen over.
He expects to be done later this spring or summer.
“This project's very rewarding,” Skoglun said. “The greatest lean I've been able to rectify. Beautiful country on the Palouse.”
As a general contractor for 20 years, he has built houses, airplane hangars, pole barns and storage units.
“There's more satisfaction for me in restoring an old barn,” he said. “This kind of construction ... it's not done anymore, but it should be.”
When his work is finished, a roofing contractor will take over, re-covering the barn in new shingles.
“It's in real good shape,” said Cocking. “Once we get the roof on and get it straightened up.”
The Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation grant program has so far funded restoration work on 85 barns in Washington.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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