You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!

Clifton on the Monocacy farm, circa 1945 – back half of the dairy barn and the second, larger silo are just 3 years old here. Notice that the little white farmhouse is not here. It was moved, by a donkey-powered contraption, from another site on the farm to its current location in 1952.

Iconic buildings, like our barns, evolve over time, and that’s what you’ve been witnessing this past year.

These magnificent Chartreuse & co barns have been in my family and evolving for over 75 years. About 18 months ago we started a process of doing some significant upgrading to the barns. We repaired and painted the exterior of the bank barn, bringing it back to its original detailing and beauty (see the before and after image of the work below).

Bank Barn’s before and after, 2017.

However, with interior work on our Dairy Barn (the main barn) we have run into major delays at site plan, historic preservation, and most recently, the permitting processes.

Architectural renderings of exterior improvements, most significantly the improved back door, plus the exterior stairway.

During this process some safety issues were identified, so we chose to close the Main Barn entirely rather than leave it open during the process.

Our Dairy Barn front circa 1990. This is our Dairy Barn as it was when we bought it from my family. It’s iconic outline is there, but it needed some love to bring it back to life.

We’ve finally navigated the county process and are getting work done: electrical and lighting upgrades, replacing that hideous old garage door (you can see it in the photo above as the front door of the barn) at the back of the barn with a beautiful pair of barn doors (see architectural renderings above), and installing bathrooms – that’s right – ones that have sinks and flushing toilets!

This process has taken so very long that we cannot get all of it completed before our November 1, Holiday Bash opening. We’ll have enough completed on the first floor to get you all back inside. Upstairs and downstairs dealers are squeezing together, and bursting out onto the grounds – all to be able to bring you all the talent and selection you expect. Plus we’re creating vignettes outside all around our barns, allowing you to truly appreciate all the details and beauty of these buildings. As well as be able to shop throughout the property.

We expect to have the Main Barn completely open, upstairs and down, early in 2019, and then moving on to the Bank Barn’s interior. We’ll keep you posted as these exciting transformations take place.

Thanks so much for your patience as we go through this, and I’ve gotta shout out to our amazing designers and dealers who have gone above and beyond to roll with the changes and uncertainties that this process has created.

Here’s our 2019 Holiday schedule, with an extra opening in November added:

Nov 1-4

Nov 10-11

Nov 16-18

Nov 24

Dec 7-9

Chartreuse & co main barn, circa 2018.

Comments (14)

Irene Amos
October 16, 2018 Reply

If there were any pictures we were supposed to be able to view I’m not able to open them up, neither here or on your Facebook page.

vacrum
October 17, 2018 Reply

Sorry about that! Just fixed the photo issues.
Virginia

Donna Battaglia
October 17, 2018 Reply

Hi Virginia! What’s the history behind the 1945 painting of the farm? What a treasure for you to have! Who painted it? I remember seeing a painting but I think it was different one maybe? I think the one I remember had the farm house in it. You know I love the historical details.

~Donna

vacrum
October 21, 2018 Reply

The oil painting in this blog is hanging at my sister’s home. It, like the one you probably remember, was painted by Eric Pahlow, a German POW who was working the farm, with a whole team of POWs, during WWII. He was a graphic designers from Bavaria, and when my grandparents got to know him, they formed a friendship which continued through the rest of their lives. He actually returned to visit my grandmother in the early 1980s, bringing his wife and granddaughter (who was my age) with him. They stayed for about a month and traveled throughout the region with my grandmother. Upon his return, he sent a stunning thank you note, designed as a diploma/certificate, awarding it to my grandmother for her flawless graciousness. It was illustrated with her car boasting wings, and the ubiquitous iced tea she served on her patio every afternoon. It’s framed and hanging over the pantry door in our kitchen.

Mr. Pahlow painted several landscapes of the farm. The one I have is from the perspective of approximately where the post office is now, and includes the chicken houses which were on the property at the time, and Romulous, my grandmother’s beloved Great Dane, in the foreground. He also painted portraits of my father and uncle, one of my grandmother, and a large mural which covers one of the walls in our kitchen. All are treasures.

Shannon
October 20, 2018 Reply

I am checking to see if the next opening dates listed for every weekend in November is for 2018 or 2019? I’m not understanding why the next opening dates listed in the announcement of the October (2018) closing show the holiday schedule for 2019. Or was this an error?

vacrum
October 21, 2018 Reply

The dates for the rest of the year are: Nov 1-4 Holiday Bash! Nov 10-11 (Sat/Sun only) Nov 16-18, Nov 24 (Shop Small Saturday), Dec 7-9
Hope this clears it up.

Virginia

Taryn Hickman
December 25, 2018 Reply

Your place is beautiful ! Had so much fun on a recent girls trip shopping for Christmas to decorate my fireplace
I’ll be back with more girlfriends in the Spring!?
Philadelphia Crew

vacrum
January 23, 2019 Reply

Thank you so much for visiting! If you liked it in November, you’ll LOVE it in the Spring! The lilacs, roses, birds, and trees all come together to create such a magical backdrop to our barns.

Kathy Tushaus
January 16, 2019 Reply

wow, what an awesome story!

vacrum
January 23, 2019 Reply

It’s a great story, and such a wonderful life here at the farm. I can’t wait to have it all open again for you to really explore and enjoy.

Mary Bruder
January 16, 2019 Reply

Is this Friday open to the public or just the vendors? We came one Friday with out of state guests and we were not aloud to purchase.

vacrum
January 23, 2019 Reply

We are open to the public on the third Fri/Sat/Sun of each month. That said, we are open by appointment at other times, and here most Fridays between 10 and 2 for furniture pick ups. We’re happy to let you look through the barns and purchase when we’re here. I fear it was some sort of miscommunication if you were not allowed to purchase; we are a little rough looking between our Barn Openings with all the furniture coming in and out.

Victoria Aylward
March 12, 2019 Reply

Hello, Ladies,

When do you expect the upstairs in the Dairy Barn to be completed. Will it be by next weekend, when your Spring opening is?

Thank you!

vacrum
March 12, 2019 Reply

The first floor is complete except for the bathrooms, which are currently under construction. The second floor has required a separate building permit, based on a new classification the county has given it (different building classification from the first floor). Before work to open it back up can continue, we’ll need new plans from our architect, new permits from the county, etc. So it will take quite a while, especially in light of how long the work we’ve already accomplished has taken.

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You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!

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