Press Releases
CHESHAM COUPLE SAVE
125-YEAR-OLD LIVERY STABLE
HARRISVILLE, NH, July 21, 2008— The 125-year-old Bemis Livery Stable and Barn on Chesham Road in Harrisville is now ready for another century of life, thanks to owners Cheryl and Stephen Barlow. Guided by Historic Harrisville, Inc., the Barlows preserved the original wood floors and even the horse-chewed beams while renovating the barn as a showroom for their handmade Shaker Style Furniture. Cheryl says, “We kept the character of the building, down to the small single-light horse stall windows. People drive by and say it looks the same as it did when they were kids. It’s really great to live in a town like Harrisville, that’s interested in its history and active in preserving it.”
The barn is part of the 9-bedroom Bemis House, built about 1880 by George Franklin Bemis and his wife Emma, opposite the Chesham train station which opened about the same time. The Bemis family hauled freight and passengers to and from the station and rented out carriages and horses. The business closed down when the automobile took over the streets of Chesham and Harrisville. After the Bemis family left, the house and barn fell into ruin, with an absentee landlord dividing the property into apartments. Eventually, Historic Harrisville was able to obtain the property and sold it to the Barlows in 1990. “All the repairs were paste and putty,” says Cheryl. “The barn was full of leftovers from the tenants, from baby buggies to car parts. We had to do something to save it. The foundation was crumbling, the walls were leaning in and poor drainage was undermining the earth under the barn.”
The Barlows worked with Granite State Building Movers of Derry, Dave O’Neil Construction of Harrisville and Beaupré Construction of Windsor. The original Shaker Style Workshop and Showroom has been open as usual during construction on the barn. The remaining changes are mostly cosmetic. A special open house will be held in September to
show off the renovations, horse chewed beams and all, and the expanded showroom.
Shaker Style is a family-owned business creating handcrafted Shaker furniture of lasting beauty. Visit them on the web at www.shakerstyle.com. The historic Workshop and Showroom, located at 292 Chesham Road in Harrisville, are open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.