"Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without"
I was raised not 400 yards from The Old Bunger House and took part in demolishing the home in 2021. My brother, David, and I were able to salvage some good wood for future farm projects! I was able to add to my collection of building material. I will add them to a new farm home to be designed and completed by 2026.
After our father passed in on March 9, 2019, the four or six siblings who retained the farm began salvaging materials from the antiquated buildings around the farm. That included removing recyclable materials from the Bunger house and our parents’ 1951 Bedford stone house.
As for the circa 1910 Sam J. Bunger home, my father had me remove the cast door fixtures in the 1980’s, and around 1996, I had collected and had framed some wallpaper fragments from Sam & Gertrude’s 2nd floor bedroom and the wall leading upstairs from the walkthrough foyer.
By 2021, outer walls had shifted, due to trees growing wider right against two sides of the home, to the point that one could see exposed logs from the original pre-1900’s cabin over which Sam built. By 2022, deterioration reached the point where it was unsafe to enter parts of the two-story home. That home had to be demolished.
Myself and my brother David got to work dismantling the home, carefully preserving the tongue and groove flooring, as well as most of the hand-hewn logs that formed the one-room cabin. The fact that the home contained an old one-room cabin was a huge surprise to many in our family. We still have no idea when, nor by whom, that cabin was built! Regardless, it framed what we had called the Bunger family room for a century!
Along with raising the home, I tore down the Old Smokehouse, preserving its’ logs.
When my wife and I design our new home, which will sit atop the highest hill on Hidden Spring Farm overlooking the Big Spring Valley of southern Meade County, we shall include Bunger door handles, tongue and groove flooring, and hand-hewn logs.
From my parents 1951 Bedford stone house, the stone, flooring, and square nails, will combine with the Bunger materials. Even the weathered wood from the Bunger’s hip roof barn, dismantled in the mid-1990’s, and lumber from our father’s old Corn crib will find their place in our home.
And so, traditions live on! As the old timers said, "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without" - Meade County farm motto
After our father passed in on March 9, 2019, the four or six siblings who retained the farm began salvaging materials from the antiquated buildings around the farm. That included removing recyclable materials from the Bunger house and our parents’ 1951 Bedford stone house.
As for the circa 1910 Sam J. Bunger home, my father had me remove the cast door fixtures in the 1980’s, and around 1996, I had collected and had framed some wallpaper fragments from Sam & Gertrude’s 2nd floor bedroom and the wall leading upstairs from the walkthrough foyer.
By 2021, outer walls had shifted, due to trees growing wider right against two sides of the home, to the point that one could see exposed logs from the original pre-1900’s cabin over which Sam built. By 2022, deterioration reached the point where it was unsafe to enter parts of the two-story home. That home had to be demolished.
Myself and my brother David got to work dismantling the home, carefully preserving the tongue and groove flooring, as well as most of the hand-hewn logs that formed the one-room cabin. The fact that the home contained an old one-room cabin was a huge surprise to many in our family. We still have no idea when, nor by whom, that cabin was built! Regardless, it framed what we had called the Bunger family room for a century!
Along with raising the home, I tore down the Old Smokehouse, preserving its’ logs.
When my wife and I design our new home, which will sit atop the highest hill on Hidden Spring Farm overlooking the Big Spring Valley of southern Meade County, we shall include Bunger door handles, tongue and groove flooring, and hand-hewn logs.
From my parents 1951 Bedford stone house, the stone, flooring, and square nails, will combine with the Bunger materials. Even the weathered wood from the Bunger’s hip roof barn, dismantled in the mid-1990’s, and lumber from our father’s old Corn crib will find their place in our home.
And so, traditions live on! As the old timers said, "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without" - Meade County farm motto