A new barn went up at Flat Point Farm in West Tisbury this week, seven months after a devastating fire destroyed the historic farm’s main barn.
Work started on the project Monday when an eight-man Amish crew from Lancaster, Pa., arrived on an early ferry. Timber and other materials arrived the night before.
The contractor for the project is Kevin Cusack of Autumn Construction.
On Monday a crowd of 15 or so friends and family members watched as the Amish crew expertly raised the barn’s skeleton. By lunchtime, substantial work had been completed on the frame and sills.
“Unbelievable. It’s mesmerizing to watch,” said Arnie Fischer Jr., who stood by as the skeleton went up. “There have been a lot of emotions since the fire. But today is happy.”
The pre-dawn fire on March 19 left the barn in ashes and claimed the lives of almost 90 animals.
The cause was later determined to be a heat lamp.
In the days following the fire, the Island community responded with an outpouring of support. There were multiple deliveries of hay and feed for the surviving animals. Neighbor Peter Rodegast started drafting plans for the new facility, while others organized a Go Fund Me campaign that eventually raised over $120,000. A fundraiser potluck at the Agricultural Hall also helped contribute to the rebuilding efforts.
Since May, the Fischer family has had weekly “barn” meetings with community members who have offered or volunteered their services for the project, including Mr. Cusack and Mr. Rodegast. The plan evolved week to week, but Mr. Fischer said the family saw the new barn as an opportunity to modernize aspects of the old one, which was originally built as a dairy barn. The new barn will be slightly smaller than its predecessor and will only have two thirds of a hay loft — a suggestion from industry experts.
“We’ve had old. We wanted new,” Mr. Fischer said.
The new barn shares part of the old barn’s foundation, but is reoriented to allow for the future use of solar. The cement base of the old barn was saved and is being used as a staging ground for the work, and will be used as a cement barnyard in the future.
The farm also has eight new sheep and 50 new chickens. Although the sound of construction didn’t bother the chickens, on Monday they all scurried to the corner of the coop when the 50-foot crane lifted a pallet of two-by-fours overhead.
“Instincts. They thought that was one big hawk,” Mr. Fischer said.
By lunchtime on the second day of construction, the crew had assembled the frame of the barn and made significant progress to the siding and roofing.
“It’s one of the craziest feats of human skill that I’ve ever seen,” said Doug Brush, who is married to Emily Fischer, as the crew hammered at the roof beams of what will one day be the sheep shed. “I can’t believe how fast it has gone up.”
Windows, doors and final layer of sheet metal to finish the roof will be done by Jim Creedon, an Island carpenter. Emily Fischer said Mr. Creedon maintained the original barn for many years and is skilled at preserving and restoring historic architecture.
“He is the only person who would still work on the old barn, and repair it,” she said.
Gesturing to the series of smaller outbuildings nearby, she explained how Mr. Creedon played a role in preserving the hidden historic identity of the one-story barn they call the Corn House. He informed the family that the floorboards were made out of wooden cases for World War II warheads, and should not be removed.
And while the fire razed the old barn, Emily and Doug’s son Milo said it did not destroy many vestiges of farm’s history salvaged from the fire.
Milo, who is 10, dug through a pile of iron tools that were used by the family for generations and may have been lost in the clutter of the old barn.
He picked up an old pair of shears that were scarred but still intact, a syringe for injecting sheep with medicine, a lawn mower blade, a large magnet for collecting loose nails, two water pumps, a cider press and a crate of hay baling tools so old that he wasn’t sure of their name, although he knew their function.
Holding one mangled piece of metal, he explained: “This was used to zip bales of hay to high places . . . If I had to give it a name I would call it a hay zip-line, or something.”
Milo is a member of the next generation of farmers that will be responsible for tending the sheep and chickens housed in the new barn — but he is not the youngest.
Zinnia Fischer was born in late May, two months after the fire, and saw the new barn under construction for the first time on Tuesday.
She played in the grass next to her grandmother, Christa Fischer, joyfully unaware of the moment in history that she represents.
“She never knew the old barn,” Mrs. Fischer said. “This will be the only barn she has ever known.”
The original barn was raised almost exactly 80 years ago this month, when Arnie Fischer’s parents had it built by Hancock construction in Vineyard Haven.
Mr. Cusack said he wanted to help because he knew the farm and its history.
“I said, we’ll get it up for you,” he said. “I knew the parents of these folks, so I know the history since cattle were driven here.”
He praised the work of the Amish crew, which has raised other barns on the Vineyard including the education barn at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary that went up last year.
“The Amish are instantaneous. They will build anything you want, however you want,” Mr. Cusack said. “They’re old school and use old methods. No computers. They draft everything by hand and everything is done by mail. Not even a fax. But they’re quick.
“They’re wonderful people. Salt of the earth. And they’re the right fit for the Fischers.”
He said the timeline was tight for getting the job done. It had to be this week — there was a wedding coming up for the son of one of the workers, Ephraim, and hunting season is set to begin soon. If the barn didn’t go up now, it was going to have to wait until spring.
“This had to be. And we made it be,” Mr. Cusack said.
Mr. Fischer said money raised from the Go Fund Me and potluck covered more than half the cost of the project.
“You think about it and you try to envision what it will look like, but when you see it, what’s the word? It’s overwhelming,” he said.
“It feels like Christmas. It’s such a gift to all the people who donated to the Go Fund Me that we’re doing something worthy of their donations. It never would have been as nice without the generosity of friends and strangers.”
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