CONWAY — Bright afternoon sunlight fell in slants through the day’s cloud cover, cascading through the unfinished roof slats of Jan and John Maggs’ new Whately Road barn.
The Maggs are rebuilding and erecting an English three-bay, late-1700s-style barn, seven months after a tornado ripped through Pumpkin Hollow, flattening a 1860s structure on the site.
The storm also badly damaged several houses on the street. Those houses are still being repaired. It’s not yet known what will happen to the historic United Congregational Church of Conway that has since been shuttered because of safety concerns.
The barn’s loss was felt throughout the region. Pumpkin Hollow is the historic center of Conway’s small town community. Before the old red barn was destroyed, the structure — built about 100 years after Conway’s incorporation — was the center of the Hollow.
It was “an historic icon, a landmark, the center of the town,” Jan Maggs said, sitting inside her restored 1760s house on a recent day.
Most items from a joint business, Jan and John Maggs Antiques, were in the barn when it collapsed. Less noticeably, the “business took a huge hit” because the Maggs weren’t able to travel to European antiques shows, where they purchase much of their stock. And a spring selling show, typically held in the barn, had to be canceled.
In weeks following the tornado, Conway’s tight community came together. Neighbors brought tractors and pickup trucks to help pull antique and personal items from the wreckage. A friend opened a hay barn to keep the items safe till more permanent storage was found.
Another friend told him the old barn “used to take his breath away,” John Maggs said.
“What we’re trying to do is put something in its place that will once again take his breath away,” Maggs continued. “It is for us an attempt to carry on our business, and to put back what was lost.”
The new barn — heavy timber frame, two floors and a basement, using mortise and tenon joints — is 45 by 45 feet, covering two-thirds of the old 45-by-75-foot foundation. Intentionally, it’s not going to look anything like the old barn. Built mostly with Shelburne lumber from Foxbard Farm, it will also use stones from the old foundation for stone walls.
“It’s creating a historically believable scenario,” said Stephen Striebel of Warwick Carpenters’ Company, which is building the barn. Striebel, a personal friend to the Whately Road couple, helped during clean-up efforts the day after February’s tornado.
As the new barn continues to take shape, the Maggs’ business is getting back to normal. A fall antiques show will be held at the Field Memorial Library Nov. 11 and 12. John Maggs said they’re hoping the new barn will be completed in time for next spring’s show.
Although it’s been a difficult bounce-back process, Jan Maggs said they’re grateful to be alive.
“We lost everything, but we didn’t live in the barn,” Jan Maggs said. “I can’t imagine what it would have been like if it was the house.”
To follow the rebuilding of the Maggs’ barn rebuild, visit their website, jmaggs.com.
You can reach Andy Castillo
at: acastillo@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 263
On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo