So there was this barn....

...at the back of the house which we part owned and had been the original habitation of the family prior to 1947 when they built the small granite farmhouse. 7 children were born there and some of them are still alive and living in the village at the end of our farm track.
Half of the barn and another outbuilding was owned by three separate members of the family and over two years we bought them all. They were all in pretty bad condition although built from granite blocks and mud bricks.

Our half of the barn as it was - background wall is the partition with the other section.

Our half of the main barn was a ruin and the rain from the roof was leaking all over the main house at the rear so we had its shell structurally rebuilt soon after we bought the quinta.



The same half after rebuild, built slightly higher to allow us to create a taller upper floor. This roof is a rustic quick fix and will be re-roofed next.

When we finally bought the other half we opened it to find............


The bake oven made from granite and mud render...



The rest of the barn which had been two rooms, lower and upper. Probably a lower stable and upper sleeping platform originally and then used for storage in later years.


Bats roosted in the lower beams and it took 4 hours to clear the disintegrated hay from the building.

Now both shells have been renovated with spaces for windows and doors...

and inside it has been given a waterproof foundation and solid floor.
We broke down the original mud brick and granite interior wall last week and now both halves have been opened out into one area.









In January we stripped off the old roof and have put in new beams and joists to elevate it to the same height as the other half. Unfortunately we had rain and high winds so had to cover the open structure for a few days...

Fraser battening down for the storm. But to no avail
It was scary to see the cover being lifted by the wind and even the brick weights could not hold it.
Over the past few days new joists have been added and we have had to make some major decisions about how to insulate and finish the roof. We have decided to board the roof inside with floorboards covered with insulation foam, liner and modern tiles rather than the original canudos or roman style tiles.

Two 7 metre Eucalyptus beams are the main roof support and will hold pine rafters.


Fraser and I treated the pine floorboards which will be used to line the final roof over the rafters cover.

This was as far as the roof has progressed as of Wednesay......
We will be boarding out the roof over the next 5 days or so.