Restoration Road (2021–…): Season 2, Episode 4 - Off-Grid Idaho Home - full transcript
Clint converts a 200-year-old barn into a vacation home in remote Idaho.
Tucked away
in the foothills
of the Adirondack Mountains,
patiently bearing witness
to history,
sits the small town
of Gloversville, New York.
Once known as the glove-making
capital of the world,
Gloversville was one of
the earliest places
settled by Europeans
in America,
with colonists arriving here
as early as the 1750s
to carve out a piece
of the vast wilderness
to call their own.
I'm here to meet Kevin Durkin
from Restoration Living.
He's found a relic
of that history,
a 200-year-old barn
just off the aptly named
Skunk Hollow Road.
And he thinks
it's worth saving.
But time and weather
can be hard on old barns.
And on this one, I think
Kevin may have bitten off
more than he can chew.
Oh, that can't be it.
Yeah right.
I'm Clint Harp,
and I'm traveling America
to shed a light on
some incredible restorations
and transformations,
get hands on with
some of the builders
bringing these amazing places
back to life,
and make sure
these new stories
live on for years to come.
Whoo! Isn't she a beauty.
This is Restoration Road.
I was literally laughing
as I was driving up, going,
"That can't be it."
Believe it or not,
that is it.
Uh...
Wow.
I mean, if you aren't looking,
that's easy to miss that mess.
-My goodness.
-Well, can we make
something from nothing?
I've seen you do it,
but that's...
That's pretty rank.
-I mean, look at it.
-It's pretty rough, yeah.
But it's the bones,
it's all about that skeleton
of a timber frame in there.
Wait till you see that.
How many generations
of just "bleurgh"
is covering that thing?
-The barn and house
are very content...
-Ugh.
Well...
-Sorry to interrupt.
-Just trust me.
Don't worry.
It's gonna be all right.
It's gonna make it.
So, let's talk materials.
- Okay.
- All right.
I see a porcelain
light fixture.
-Okay.
-I see a metal roof.
- Rusted. Uh...
- Yeah.
I don't know
what's going on over there.
It's not plaster.
It looks almost like
fiber board or something.
Early particle board.
- Yeah!
- Prehistoric particle board.
-There's this lean-to addition
over here.
-Okay.
That little one over there.
But this is the original barn
right here.
That's what we're here for.
-Let's go look
at the skeleton.
-Okay.
Do I need
to be nervous
about it falling on my head?
No. But if it does,
we'll be together.
- Don't worry.
- Great.
- Whoa!
- There it is.
Okay, well,
it's not a complete...
pile of junk.
- Yeah, good bones, huh?
- Yes.
Oh, this is a beaut.
How old is this barn?
- I'd say about 1830.
- 1830.
It's that combination
of hand-hewn
and sewn at the same time,
and hemlock.
So, they're cutting
hemlock later.
-Early barns are
the local hardwoods.
-Mmm-hmm.
-The chestnut, the oak.
-The oak. Okay.
But now
they're cutting hemlock,
which wasn't really
the preferred wood.
- Mmm.
- Because the whole tanning industry was going.
Gloversville. They made
gloves there.
It's the bark of the hemlock,
high in tannic acid.
- Okay. Okay.
- Tan hides.
And they were cutting it down.
Peeling the bark off,
but leaving the logs behind.
And these farmers show up
and the logs are laying there.
-Mmm.
-So, ready-made barn.
-So, these babies right here.
-Yeah.
This is what we want.
-Perfect wood, yeah.
-Hand-hewn, yeah.
The plates are 35-footers,
one piece.
Now, is that an original roof?
Or is that a replacement?
That sure looks to me
like a replacement.
It's not trunneled up there
-with pegs.
-Uh-huh.
So probably at some time
they replaced these rafters.
You know, 80 years ago,
90 years ago.
But this barn's going back
almost 200 years.
So, what is
this barn gonna be?
Here's what I'm thinking.
It's gonna be a small home
-up in Idaho.
-Okay.
I mean,
this is the space here.
Right to the back. This is it.
Got plenty of height.
Staircase going up
to a loft bedroom up here.
-Okay.
-Kitchen down here.
Big open area, fireplace.
- I love this idea.
- Yeah.
Now, back here,
you kinda have
like a local carnival,
funhouse situation going on.
On the back side of this,
-can you see nail holes?
-Oh, I sure can.
-So, this was
that outside wall here.
-Okay.
This has gotta be
the first thing to go.
-Not while I'm standing in it.
-Yeah.
It's not gonna
take much, either.
No, yeah!
Now, I can see through
these little windows here,
-the whitewashed walls.
-Yes.
That leads me to believe,
based on what you taught me,
I'm stealing your wisdom here.
Credit where
credit's due, okay. Got it.
That's where some cows
were milked.
And so they would whitewash
with lime and the whole thing
in there, right?
-Or horses, yeah.
-Or horses, okay.
Well, that would be
the kitchen
-down below.
-Okay.
But more than that,
I see a loft.
I wanna take a look
from up here,
just to get the feel
of if a bedroom...
You should... No, no.
After you, no, go ahead.
-No.
-Okay.
That way if you fall,
-you fall on me.
-Okay.
-I mean...
-Got it, let's go.
-Here we go.
-I did not mean that.
-Let's see here.
-Let's get lofty.
With one bedroom,
-you're not putting
a wall up here.
-No.
You're still leaving it open
to the rest
of the space. Okay.
If we put a floor
-maybe a little higher
than this...
-Yeah.
you know, the stairs will
come up, and, you know,
you kinda have this railing.
It will be a little lower,
maybe 10 inches lower.
And you can see down into
the great room below.
Well, how do you feel
about it now?
I feel a lot different
than when I drove up.
I'll tell you that, for sure.
This is majestic.
And to be quite candid
with you, I get spoiled.
Because you and I
get to go around and see
incredible structures
like this,
all these old timbers,
all this old craftsmanship,
it's easy to just see
this stuff and get used to it.
Hand-hewn timber,
mortise and tenon.
-This is ancient...
-Special stuff.
It's really special.
So it's really neat that
someone's gonna live
amongst all of this
beautiful carpentry
and all of this beautiful
history, and call this home.
Okay, well,
I'm ready to get started.
-Tomorrow.
-Tomorrow.
Work day.
Let's do it.
First thing, we gotta get
some of the junk out of here,
because we're gonna
drop this roof.
That lean-to,
I don't wanna be in here
when that thing comes down.
No, neither do I,
and I want it
out of the way first.
Is it me, or does it feel like
when the sun hits this spot
right here, that something
magical is supposed to appear?
Like something about
the Constitution,
and where it's hidden.
Now, I heard that a raccoon
was under this floor.
-There's his prints
right there.
-For real?
I will run over you
to get out of here.
-Okay, well, lean-to.
-Yeah.
- Lean-to come down.
- Yeah.
I'm really interested to see
what happens when this beam
gets pulled out of here.
in the foothills
of the Adirondack Mountains,
patiently bearing witness
to history,
sits the small town
of Gloversville, New York.
Once known as the glove-making
capital of the world,
Gloversville was one of
the earliest places
settled by Europeans
in America,
with colonists arriving here
as early as the 1750s
to carve out a piece
of the vast wilderness
to call their own.
I'm here to meet Kevin Durkin
from Restoration Living.
He's found a relic
of that history,
a 200-year-old barn
just off the aptly named
Skunk Hollow Road.
And he thinks
it's worth saving.
But time and weather
can be hard on old barns.
And on this one, I think
Kevin may have bitten off
more than he can chew.
Oh, that can't be it.
Yeah right.
I'm Clint Harp,
and I'm traveling America
to shed a light on
some incredible restorations
and transformations,
get hands on with
some of the builders
bringing these amazing places
back to life,
and make sure
these new stories
live on for years to come.
Whoo! Isn't she a beauty.
This is Restoration Road.
I was literally laughing
as I was driving up, going,
"That can't be it."
Believe it or not,
that is it.
Uh...
Wow.
I mean, if you aren't looking,
that's easy to miss that mess.
-My goodness.
-Well, can we make
something from nothing?
I've seen you do it,
but that's...
That's pretty rank.
-I mean, look at it.
-It's pretty rough, yeah.
But it's the bones,
it's all about that skeleton
of a timber frame in there.
Wait till you see that.
How many generations
of just "bleurgh"
is covering that thing?
-The barn and house
are very content...
-Ugh.
Well...
-Sorry to interrupt.
-Just trust me.
Don't worry.
It's gonna be all right.
It's gonna make it.
So, let's talk materials.
- Okay.
- All right.
I see a porcelain
light fixture.
-Okay.
-I see a metal roof.
- Rusted. Uh...
- Yeah.
I don't know
what's going on over there.
It's not plaster.
It looks almost like
fiber board or something.
Early particle board.
- Yeah!
- Prehistoric particle board.
-There's this lean-to addition
over here.
-Okay.
That little one over there.
But this is the original barn
right here.
That's what we're here for.
-Let's go look
at the skeleton.
-Okay.
Do I need
to be nervous
about it falling on my head?
No. But if it does,
we'll be together.
- Don't worry.
- Great.
- Whoa!
- There it is.
Okay, well,
it's not a complete...
pile of junk.
- Yeah, good bones, huh?
- Yes.
Oh, this is a beaut.
How old is this barn?
- I'd say about 1830.
- 1830.
It's that combination
of hand-hewn
and sewn at the same time,
and hemlock.
So, they're cutting
hemlock later.
-Early barns are
the local hardwoods.
-Mmm-hmm.
-The chestnut, the oak.
-The oak. Okay.
But now
they're cutting hemlock,
which wasn't really
the preferred wood.
- Mmm.
- Because the whole tanning industry was going.
Gloversville. They made
gloves there.
It's the bark of the hemlock,
high in tannic acid.
- Okay. Okay.
- Tan hides.
And they were cutting it down.
Peeling the bark off,
but leaving the logs behind.
And these farmers show up
and the logs are laying there.
-Mmm.
-So, ready-made barn.
-So, these babies right here.
-Yeah.
This is what we want.
-Perfect wood, yeah.
-Hand-hewn, yeah.
The plates are 35-footers,
one piece.
Now, is that an original roof?
Or is that a replacement?
That sure looks to me
like a replacement.
It's not trunneled up there
-with pegs.
-Uh-huh.
So probably at some time
they replaced these rafters.
You know, 80 years ago,
90 years ago.
But this barn's going back
almost 200 years.
So, what is
this barn gonna be?
Here's what I'm thinking.
It's gonna be a small home
-up in Idaho.
-Okay.
I mean,
this is the space here.
Right to the back. This is it.
Got plenty of height.
Staircase going up
to a loft bedroom up here.
-Okay.
-Kitchen down here.
Big open area, fireplace.
- I love this idea.
- Yeah.
Now, back here,
you kinda have
like a local carnival,
funhouse situation going on.
On the back side of this,
-can you see nail holes?
-Oh, I sure can.
-So, this was
that outside wall here.
-Okay.
This has gotta be
the first thing to go.
-Not while I'm standing in it.
-Yeah.
It's not gonna
take much, either.
No, yeah!
Now, I can see through
these little windows here,
-the whitewashed walls.
-Yes.
That leads me to believe,
based on what you taught me,
I'm stealing your wisdom here.
Credit where
credit's due, okay. Got it.
That's where some cows
were milked.
And so they would whitewash
with lime and the whole thing
in there, right?
-Or horses, yeah.
-Or horses, okay.
Well, that would be
the kitchen
-down below.
-Okay.
But more than that,
I see a loft.
I wanna take a look
from up here,
just to get the feel
of if a bedroom...
You should... No, no.
After you, no, go ahead.
-No.
-Okay.
That way if you fall,
-you fall on me.
-Okay.
-I mean...
-Got it, let's go.
-Here we go.
-I did not mean that.
-Let's see here.
-Let's get lofty.
With one bedroom,
-you're not putting
a wall up here.
-No.
You're still leaving it open
to the rest
of the space. Okay.
If we put a floor
-maybe a little higher
than this...
-Yeah.
you know, the stairs will
come up, and, you know,
you kinda have this railing.
It will be a little lower,
maybe 10 inches lower.
And you can see down into
the great room below.
Well, how do you feel
about it now?
I feel a lot different
than when I drove up.
I'll tell you that, for sure.
This is majestic.
And to be quite candid
with you, I get spoiled.
Because you and I
get to go around and see
incredible structures
like this,
all these old timbers,
all this old craftsmanship,
it's easy to just see
this stuff and get used to it.
Hand-hewn timber,
mortise and tenon.
-This is ancient...
-Special stuff.
It's really special.
So it's really neat that
someone's gonna live
amongst all of this
beautiful carpentry
and all of this beautiful
history, and call this home.
Okay, well,
I'm ready to get started.
-Tomorrow.
-Tomorrow.
Work day.
Let's do it.
First thing, we gotta get
some of the junk out of here,
because we're gonna
drop this roof.
That lean-to,
I don't wanna be in here
when that thing comes down.
No, neither do I,
and I want it
out of the way first.
Is it me, or does it feel like
when the sun hits this spot
right here, that something
magical is supposed to appear?
Like something about
the Constitution,
and where it's hidden.
Now, I heard that a raccoon
was under this floor.
-There's his prints
right there.
-For real?
I will run over you
to get out of here.
-Okay, well, lean-to.
-Yeah.
- Lean-to come down.
- Yeah.
I'm really interested to see
what happens when this beam
gets pulled out of here.