Historic barn becomes home
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
John D. Hett and his eight brothers and sisters were raised on a farm one mile south of Aulne. Not too long ago, at age 73, he returned to the farm to live, not in the farmhouse but in the barn. Sort of.
His son, Eldon, who resides in the farmhouse, renovated the old stone barn into a living quarters. John has lived there approximately two years.
Eldon and his wife, Rhonda, have lived on the home place since 1983.
Eldon was fascinated with the uniqueness of the old barn. The room at the east end obviously was used as a dwelling at one time.
The original wooden floor had been about a foot above ground level. The room had rich, wood-paneled, deep-set window frames, and plaster covered the 18-inch thick rock walls.
A cistern located nearby had been used to store rain water which ran off the eaves of the building. The soft water then was accessed with a hand pump. A limestone outdoor kitchen also was located nearby.
While cleaning up around the outside of the building, Eldon discovered an outside entrance to what originally was a basement under the residential part of the building. It probably was used to store garden produce. A special rock compartment probably was filled with water and kept dairy products cool.
When Eldon's grandfather, whose name also was John, moved to the farm in 1919, he used the whole structure as a horse barn.
The second floor ran the length of the building and was used to store hay. A basketball hoop provided recreation. Love initials still can be seen carved into the wood by growing teenage boys.
Eldon speculated the raised floor in the residence was rotting away when the Hett family moved there, so his grandfather had filled the basement with dirt from the banks of nearby Catlin Creek in order to utilize that part of the building.
Eldon decided to renovate the building, thinking to use it as a lodge. He worked at it over a period of years.
First cleaning out the building, removing horse stalls and debris, he then used a power washer to thoroughly clean the interior. He also shoveled the dirt out of the basement.
The rock walls were reinforced by running two steel rods across the width of the building. Much of the rock was re-pointed with fresh mortar.
Eldon installed base concrete flooring throughout the building including over the basement. A furnace was installed in the basement to provide central heat and air.
A former drive-through was enclosed with patio doors on the back and an entrance on the front.
A combined kitchen and dining room occupy the former living quarters. The remainder of the building is divided into a living area, two bedrooms, and a bathroom.
Sections of the walls in every room are the original 18-inch thick limestone.
John's wife, Katherine, died in May 2000, when the couple was living in a large house on Locust Street in Marion.
When John wanted to move to a smaller place, Eldon offered the newly-renovated barn-house to him.
The 75-year-old man now has a comfortable place to live and is glad to be back on the old home place.
"It's no good living in town," he said.
As he stands in his house, he has distinct memories of what it used to be.
"Trick and Lady were over there," he says, as he points to one corner of the living room. "Joe and Charlie were there, Jean and Jerry were there, and Bert and Doll were over there."
He said the kitchen formerly was an oats bin, and the dining room was used to store hay.
John and his brother Jim were the youngest in a family of seven boys and two girls. Jim, Iva Unruh, and Ellen Darrow of Marion are his only surviving siblings.
"Our dad gave each of the children a team of horses when they got married," John said. "Horses weren't used anymore when Jim and I got married, so we each got $100. We always joked that we got gypped because we didn't get a tractor like the others got horses."
In addition to Eldon, John's children are Ed Hett of Wichita, Deb Geis of Durham, Janet Plank of Marion, and Dave Hett, who lives just down the road. John has 19 grandchildren.
When the family comes to visit, it's more than a visit. It's a trip back in time and a history lesson about days long gone.
