08/16/2026
Stumbled across this picture this morning- this is where my interest in building got started- this is around 1972 at Perry's Sunny Hill Farm on Main St here in Hampstead, that my siblings and I grew up at. My Dad , 2 brothers and a neighbor built those barns and we had a farm / feed store. We delivered hay, feed and bedding to many farms in the area. ( Most are housing developments now and I have even built homes in some). There was a sawmill 2 doors down and the owner, Littleman, aka Al Collette, cleared 10 acres of land and hauled the logs back to his full fledge sawmill , which he built from old bulldozer engines and a lot of ingenuity by himself, with his tractor he fashioned into a skidder.
He milled the logs into the lumber for the frame and board and batten siding for the barn, We built 100's of feet of fence for paddocks for the horses, up to 27 at one point to take care of as well as many other farm animals. We also put an addition on the back of the house for a kitchen and an office for the store. Above this a new bedroom across the entire 2nd floor for me and two brothers to share. In 1978 I graduated high school and was offered a job by my girlfriends dad, my father in law of 47 years, who was a builder and I have been at it since then. Those were the days...
