Taking apart a piece of Langdon’s history

Times Reporter 

  

A little piece of Langdon’s history is being taken down piece by piece. The barn sitting on the Fielder land has been standing for over 100 years, and since the end of August, Strathmore resident Matt Hyde has been working to disassemble it. 

“It was just a matter of serendipity, he was there with the enthusiasm and the desire to see that the wood got reused. The barn is starting to sink under it’s own weight … and I’m at an age where I certainly didn’t want to do it myself,” said Bob Fielder. 

Fielder had had offers in the past, but everyone had wanted to take only what they wanted and leave the rest, leaving him with a pile of unstable, and likely unwanted junk. 

Fielder’s wife Linda’s family emigrated to Langdon from Iowa in 1916, and the barn was already standing on the property. Over the years the barn has housed several horses, and in later years tractors and other farm implements, now mostly obsolete. Much of the wood is virtually unobtainable now. The large roof trusses some 30’ long, exterior wall planks 1» x 12» x 12’, floor planks 3» thick, all of which were assembled together at a time when electric tools were uncommon and electricity unavailable.

The barn had started to lean, and because of the rich family history the Fielder’s didn’t want to see the barn turn into a dilapidated pile of wood sitting in the field. 

“It started off as me wanting to build a dining room table for my wife. We ended up meeting Bob through his sister in Strathmore,” said Hyde. 

His son Noah was shoveling Fielder’s sisters driveway, helping her out where he could. The family met Bob at her funeral, and he liked Noah enough that he invited them to check out the farm and spend some time with them. 

“We came out and I saw the barn, and I just asked the question if I could have some of the wood to build a dining room table for my wife, and he said, ‘you certainly can, but the whole thing needs to come down’,” said Hyde. 

And so it began. It has been him, friends from Strathmore and family that have been working on disassembling the barn. 

“It’s been really neat to just see all the family and friends pull together and attack this thing,” said Hyde. 

By the end of the September long weekend Hyde and his crew were on track, but then the snowstorm and some not so great weekend weather has really hindered the time frame. As of Oct. 11 the crew had finished the hayloft floor, and were beginning to take down the surrounding walls. 

“Because we’re pulling every nail it’s just taking longer. Its been amore painstaking process than we thought it would be,” said Hyde. 

The agreement with the Fielders was that no money would change hands, but it was up to Hyde to completely disassemble the barn so that the land beneath it could be reclaimed. Hyde could the do what ever he likes with the barn and everything in it. 

“This is an iconic moment . . . a virtual turning back of time, with views revealed that have remained hidden for the past century,” said Fielder. 

“There are very few structures such as this left standing in our province and Linda and I are pleased for the part we have played and the privilege we have been afforded in assuring every last stick of wood is recycled and given new life as rustic furniture or home renovation materials lasting another 100 years.”

The Fielders are happy the barn will continue on, in a new way, and Hyde is happy to have the opportunity to create a beautiful dining room table for his wife.