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Saturday, April 17, 2010

Abandoned Barn

There's a neat road near my house, called Almshouse Rd, that I love to ride on my motorcycle.  It runs behind Delaware Valley College.  Useless trivia fact to shamelessly bolster readership:  M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Sign' was filmed on this road.  The production company built a house, filmed the movie, and removed the house. 

Anyway, there's this huge old barn in a horrible state of disrepair that I've always wanted to visit.  You can see the barn from the road on Google maps. After you click on the link, wait for Google maps because it switches into street mode and you can see the barn.  The google maps photo is a bit old because the barn is now in much worse shape :-(


The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is building the 202 Parkway, which is supposed to alleviate traffic in my area.  The parkway will pass right by the old barn and quite frankly, I don't see how the barn will survive the construction, let alone vibration from passing cars.  Here's an artist rendering of the barn from the 202 parkway sight.  I hope someone restores the barn to that level!

Well, here a shot of the rear of the barn (the opposite side from google maps). As you can see, it's not in such good shape. 

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/1000 sec @ f7.1
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast


Here's one looking inside.  I didn't dare enter the building; there are huge holes in the floor.  I love the stone wall and the timber framing.   This was a grand barn in a prior time :-(



Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/100 sec @ f2.2
ISO 100
Curves adjusted for contrast


While the building is in horrible shape, this shot is almost inviting.  


Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/50 sec @ f1.6
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast


9 comments:

Suburban Girl said...

Yep, we do think alike. I have lots of pics from today's visit to an old farm. The house is going to be dismantled piece by piece and I have two stories...either reassembled or the wood used by Amish. I have to find out the real story. At least it isn't just being demolished.

I did walk inside, obviously from the photo I posted. There were loose boards and holes in the floor too.

It would be wonderful if your find was restored!

Louis la Vache said...

It would be grand again if it were restored!

«Louis» thanks you for visiting San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

cieldequimper said...

I like it as it is with tree and all. But I suppose it would be better for the rotting to stop.

Cezar and Léia said...

An abandoned barn? Kinda sad...
God bless you!
Cezar

Marka said...

A little tender care and some loving repairs and the barn could be restored to its former glory methinks.

Clytie said...

I love old barns, they are so picturesque. I hope this one survives the future construction.

Johnny Nutcase said...

old barns! love 'em! We have a loop road in the bottoms here that has 3-4 realllly old barns..waiting for them to fall down. every time we pass, there is one in particular that looks way worse off than the a few days before. we went in one a few times, but it's pretty sketchy. This is a great series! I love the stone wall in the last photo, great shots all around!

Earnest said...

Interesting... Is the floor raised that high? Very enjoyable read too.

Woody said...

Earnest,
Some more useless trivia for you ...
That type of barn is called (ironically enough) a "Pennsylvania Barn". It gives additional storage in the barn and a covered place to store equipment.