I like that statement Jim. Just down the road from the empty barn we looked at and lifted the floor boards on is a farm house which is very original, the elderly lady who lived there did minimal up keep and made no changes to the house which had been in her family for generations. The plaster is original and has not been touched, if I recall rightly not even wall paper, just raw plaster in need of some crack work and a fresh coat of lime wash. The barn on the other hand, allowed sheep manure to pile up over the years attacking the sills also the minimal stone foundation has done a job on the the sills which were not touched by rot, have shifted causing some stress here and there. A case where I wouldn't say poverty but more old time frugalness has won out.

Tim