Scio Church Road: Two Barns (Images by Chuck Bultman, link to higher resolution file.)

Bultman also wrote that he’d noticed a hole in the roof of one of the barns: “So I tried to reach the owners to let them know that their asset is at risk. And so far, I have not heard back – maybe something is being planned and workers are lining up to repair it or salvage it, but I do not know, and it is not for me to decide.”

But over the spring, a decision was made – which a week ago led to a Friday evening gathering of Bultman’s friends and associates at the site of those barns. One of the barns stood with its siding removed, its frame laid bare. Wrote Bultman in an email to me: “It is our plan to toast this barn’s first life, and consider its second.”

Its second life will begin in the Pittsburgh area, where Bultman will help transform the re-assembled timbers into a home for one of his clients. The disassembly of the frame and restoration of the wood will be handled by Rudy Christian and his wife Laura, whose shop is in Burbank, Ohio.

Although Bultman had speculated that the two barns on the property were built at the same time, Christian estimated that the barn he’s dismantling dates to the 1830s, while the other one is post-Civil War.

Chronicle publisher Mary Morgan and I took a break from writing about local government to join Chuck on that Friday, and documented the occasion with some photos.

Barn Photos

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Ladder in the Scio Church Road barn.

Scio Church Road barn.

Roof ribs of the Scio Church Road barn.

West face of the Scio Church Road barn.

Scio Church Road barn.

A dusty old dictionary abandoned in the basement of the Scio Church Road barn.

Set of steps from sidewalk hatch previously leading to a basement.

These old wooden stairs likely pique the curiosity of passersby, whether they are longtime residents or first-time visitors. For one thing, they don’t lead anywhere. The Chronicle had previously corresponded via electronic mail with the owners of the steps about their history.

And two Sunday evenings ago when we spotted two people emerging from the office space in front of which the stairs are mounted – armed with schematic drawings affixed to large pieces of foam core – we figured they were headed the same direction we were: to Sunday night caucus at city council chambers in the Larcom Building.

So we took the opportunity to make face-to-face introductions, and to get the story behind the steps. It turns out that the stairs’ original home was in the “sidewalk hatch” of the building immediately to the north of their current location. The steps located underneath sidewalk grates were used in the olden days to accept deliveries directly into basements of buildings – along this block and elsewhere. The extreme wear on these particular steps was attributed to the kegs of beer that used to be rolled down them into the basement of an Irish pub there. But the stairs’ owner allowed that this could be an apocryphal tale. In a cursory check of AADL online historical resources for Ann Arbor, The Chronicle could find no evidence bearing on the question.

As we crossed Fifth Avenue to the Larcom Building, the stairs’ owner explained that 8-10 years ago the next-door building had undergone some renovations, and that he had spotted this set of stairs sitting inside the dumpster. After inquiring with the building owners and getting their okay to rescue them from their fate, he recruited a couple of other guys help him, climbed into the dumpster, and wrestled them free.

Wondering where this is and who we were talking to? Some readers might already know, but here’s another detail that gives some additional folks a shot before we straightup tell you: the stairs’ owner was headed to caucus to make a brief presentation on the proposed African American Museum to be located in the Polhemus House on Pontiac Trail – which was to come before council for approval as a PUD rezoning the following evening on Sept. 8. That project enjoyed the recommendation of planning commission and was approved by council that evening.

So who was that guy we hounded all the way from Fourth Avenue and Huron to the Larcom Building? Richard Mitchell of Mitchell and Mouat Architects, Inc.