F.R. "Fritz" Nordengren, MPH

My friend Ronnie Garrison told me it took him nearly three years to find his farm in Georgia, about 30 minutes from his home in Griffin. That was when I started looking for ground in the fall of 2002.I knew I might have to search, but I also thought I could find what I wanted in a short period of time. Two and a half years later, in January, I was about to give up. I had visited over a dozen farms, spent a lot of time searching internet listings, and in February, visited two properties that about ended it. The first was a small 20 acre parcel with a “house”. The house had been remodeled poorly, had been stripped, and the ground was littered with junk.The second, was a fair piece of ground, 70 acres including a deep pond. But this pond was placed right near the adjacent 10 acre farmstead of another family and the entire parcel felt like someone’s back yard. Or more precisely, someone else’s back yard.A week later, I spotted a listing with a photo: 80 acres, no other information. The photo showed what looked like an old home or barn, and some other small building. And on a Thursday afternoon, I drove down to take a look.Realtors take lousy photos — but then again, how do you take a photo of a farm.The buildings turned out to be a small barn and a small shed. the barn is about 24 x 36 and is set up to house a few animals to support a family. it has a solid pole foundation, but shows years of neglect and wear. The shingles are fair, the roof ok, but it’s not ready to be a home. Everyone thinks in en vogue to remodel a barn into a home. Usually, it’s a massive structure that gets turned into a palace. A suburban home in the country.I gave thought to taking this barn down, but now I’m giving serious thought to converting it to a cabin: checking the square and stability of the poles to support the live and dead loads of a shelter for people and not animals. Re roofing, and then, removing the siding a wall at a time and replacing it with new board and batten, or plywood. Once the floor girts are hung, I can place a level floor, finish the siding, and have a weather tight cabin built to lock-up.