To the Editor:

Back in 1999, a beautiful historic barn built in 1854 was located on my property very close to the home that I had recently restored on the corner of Youmans Road and Route 85. Unfortunately, the foundation of that barn had deteriorated over the years and had become structurally unsound, putting the future of the barn in jeopardy.  Of course, one option was to take it down but the structure’s beauty and historical significance inspired me to seek other options.

I considered lifting the barn on-site and constructing a new foundation under it but I was uncomfortable with the building’s proximity to the house. At that time, I investigated the possibility of having the barn moved.

My search eventually led me to Larmon House Movers Inc. of Schuylerville, New York, a company that had moved many very large and unique structures. The barn was successfully moved a bit further up Youmans Road. I then built a new foundation under it for it to rest on and it will likely see another 100-plus years of use.

Like most other longtime residents of New Scotland, and because of this positive experience that I had in rescuing a historic building, the future preservation of the Hilton barn was always of particular interest to me.

In April of 2014, when the future options for the Hilton barn seemed to be limited to being dismantled, I approached [former New Scotland Councilman] Dan MacKay about the possibility of moving it. Initially, he thought that the barn’s massive size made that option beyond feasibility, as most people would.

However, I then told him about my barn-moving experience and arranged a meeting with Larmon House Movers at the Hilton barn site to discuss the details of a potential move and to assure him that moving the barn was indeed very possible.

After recently witnessing the successful move of the Hilton barn, I’m grateful that my barn-moving experience and encouragement may have helped in some small way to eventually make that a reality.

David Moreau

New Scotland