By Garrett Ruhmann, Wood-Mizer
November 12, 2025
Nestled away in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, Buckland is every bit as picturesque as one might envision a small town to be. Red and gold leaves drift lazily through the trees in autumn while snow drifts heavily through the winter. The town was first settled in 1742 and was given the humble name of "No Town," as it existed between the nearby villages of Charlemont and Ashfield, but part of neither.
Nearly 40 years after settlement, Othneil Taylor and Asaph White set up a sawmill, and with that one essential change, the town of Buckland began to take shape.
Today, it rests on 19.9 square miles and is home to a mere 1,800 residents. But the history that Buckland holds is precious, and they hold it near and dear to this day. That's why, when the Buckland Historical society saw that a barn built in 1779 needed work done, they moved quickly to intervene--and called Alan Spooner for the job.
Alan, affectionately known as "The Cruckfather," knew it would be a labor-intensive job: "The components of the project entailed dismantling the entire barn, piece by piece, assessing each piece of the wooden structure, cataloging and labeling those pieces that were salvageable and repairable, and then putting it all back together again." The process immediately brings to mind comparisons to the Ship of Theseus (a thought experiment that asks whether a ship, having had all its components replaced, is still the same ship). But the Wilder Barn is not a thought experiment at all; rather, it's a quite real structure that needed every piece of itself meticulously examined and repaired.
"The barn required all new siding, flooring and repairs to some of the antique timbers. Wood needed for replacement and repairs was harvested from the forests of the Wilder Homestead property. Our Wood-Mizer LT15 Wide Sawmill and EG200 Edger were perfect modern tools to use on the harvested local wood for replacement and repair components of the antique barn," says Alan.
The project lasted more than 2 years, but the passion behind it was evident from the start. The timber was harvested from trees located all around the homestead, and some of them were even brought to the site by oxen. Alan recalls, "The barn was carefully dismantled, piece by piece and each timber was identified by a tag and location within the original barn. Meanwhile milling and edging began for the siding and flooring which very little of the original pieces could be salvaged. Additionally, miscellaneous milling was required to replace damaged structural timbers as well as other barn components, as needed."
The barn itself had been sporadically maintained over the years, which resulted in a large variety of mixed-species wood being used all over the place. This meant Alan and the crew had to identify each species and replace it with the same type so as not to change anything that may have been original. Species included in the barn consisted of pine, oak, beech, hemlock, and birch.
Alan was glad to have his Wood-Mizer equipment to help along the way. "We most likely would not have been a successful bidder for the project if we did not have a Wood-Mizer for the milling. Any other local builder would have had to outsource this component, adding tens of thousands of dollars to the project. We were not only able to do the milling and keep it very local (within 5 miles from our shop) but our portable mill and edger were able to be transported to the job site for on-site milling and edging."
The project, which was completed in September 2025, received grant funding from the state in order to be completed.
After the barn was fully disassembled, a new concrete foundation was poured by a hired contractor. From there, Alan got to work examining the wood. As noted, there were many species to be looked at. He repaired all that he could, and what he couldn't, he replaced with the help of his Wood-Mizer sawmill.
Upon repairing and replacing every individual beam, reassembly of the English-style post and beam barn began. To be an exact replica of the original, timber framing was used, which meant not a nail was to be seen. This was often done at the time of the barn's original construction due to the high cost of nails. All in all, roughly 65% of the barn's components had to be either repaired or replaced altogether. Now that it's completed, however, with the help of Alan Spooner and his team, countless other workers, the Buckland Historical Society, and State Senator Paul Mark, the barn will stand sturdy and proud for another 250 years.
Note: Visit the Buckland Historical Society website for further details on the Save the Barn project, including a video explaining the restoration process!
