As per the free tenons...
The website text explains this, claiming that originally there were integral tenons, but at one point long ago the barn was disassembled and moved. They say that at this point, the carpenters were baffled by this construction, and settled on sawing out the original tenons and replacing them with free tenons later in order to take the frame apart.
My thought all along was that this barn does seem to be primarily English in character, but I was waiting for the Englishman to voice his opinion first, since he (Ken) would know far more about this than me. English framing is, admittedly, out of my realm of expertise.
It is entirely possible that this barn could have been built by an English carpenter or inspired by English designs, even if it was a Scotsman that first owned it. Thus, while being the property of a Scotsman, the barn may be English in its carpentry. To me, this seems to be the likely case.
It to me brings up memories of various references to things such as 'German barns' or 'Swiss Barns' that are built in decidedly non German or Swiss ways. The classic 'Swiss Barn' style is mostly of English techniques, with a few Germanic elements, notably the jettied floor and ramp entrance which come from Switzerland, however the prototypes in that country are framed much differently.
A good example is a barn not far from me in the Swiss Mennonite settlement at Berne Indiana. Here there is a huge barn called the "Swiss Bern". This barn was a second or third generation structure, built with distinctly American methods. It stands in contrast to the few older buildings built in the typical Swiss and German Fachwerk style.
My thought, then, is that this 'Scottish' barn may be of English design...
DLB
