Jun 15
Gilmore Museum is an amazing place. Many buildings scattered across 90 acres - located in Hickory Corners, Michigan. Just finished an exploring the many buildings and 400ish cars.
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Reply to DuesyGuy…
Reply Replies (13)
· Jun 15
Pretty easy to kill a day at Gilmore! I'd recommend the ACD since it's not too far from the Gilmore, but with a name like Duesy Guy I probably don't need to!
· Jun 15
Fantastic museum. Which is continuing to grow. The barns are almost as cool as the cars.
· Jun 15
Upstairs of the big barn is spectacular. Years ago the Tucker Exhibit was underneath.
· Jun 16
I went through this phase 25 years ago when I clearly had a little more money than I do now where I was looking to have a vintage barn moved to my property. There are a number of companies that dissassemble barns, fix the rotted wood and then rebuild them on your property. The results can be spectacular and for the most part the framing is no longer something you can find.
The downside is the how many posts and how close they are. Here is a very rare large clear span barn.
http://www.greatnorthernbarns.com/frames.php
· Jun 16
I've always fantasized about this topic and because of the architectural interest, wanted it to be a round barn.
I'm having discussions about a building, but for practical reasons will likely go with a metal building. The contractor is a good friend and he and his wife are into aesthetics so I'm talking to him about ways to minimize the fact that it is a metal building.
Old beautiful things typically require lots of maintenance.........a curse that I like old beautiful things more than anything new..
Clear span is one of the main reasons to go with new. However for inspiration of old with a clear span. Check out the west Baden resort in French Lick Indiana.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Baden_Springs_Hotel
· Jun 16
John, one of the spots we evaluated for the Duesenberg tour 2 years ago before deciding on the Homestead in Virginia. Considered of the architectural "wonders" of the US I believe.
· Jun 16
There are some crazy cool round barns but I believe that in 25 years of paying attention I have only seen a single round barn frame for sale. Fairly rare.
· Jun 16
Some of you other “barnaphiles” might like this. A store that a friend of mine built. The beams were all milled from reclaimed old growth western red cedar phone poles that were originally used when they first ran power to Cape Cod. It came out incredible. Currently for sale if anyone has a spare couple million and wants an estate in rural NW Connecticut.
· Jun 17
The West Baden Inn has been called the "Eighth Wonder of the World". The atrium is spectacular.
· Jun 17
Crazy! On my roadtrip list now.
· Jun 19
When you stay there, there are inner rooms and outer rooms. To view the beautiful atrium from your room, request one of the inner rooms/suites.
The place was in total disrepair in 1984. Cook Family medical (an Indiana family owned medical supply company) became involved and the renovation of the West Baden Springs hotel and French Lick Springs hotels began.
The story I was told was that they asked the Cook family what their budget was and they replied "there is no budget" (we should get them interested in Classic car restoration).
when it was finished the cost was approximately 600 million dollars.
· Jun 19
Sounds like I need them drunk bidding on one of my cars. That never happens to me. What a great project. So many of these buildings have been torn down. I'm forgetting where I read about this but the Sterick building Memphis was once the tallest building south of the mason dixon line. It has been abandoned for 30 years but is being renovated. Its history is complicated because it sits on leased land. It is a time capsule inside.
· Jun 19
The Sterick and the West Baden are perfect examples of why we need rich guys.