Home, Again
Sam Baker built his house from the ground up — literally.
To construct his rustic, weathered-wood home, the Renfrew man mostly used salvaged materials from dismantled bridges and barns.
"They're all from Butler County; that's the nice thing about it," said Baker, 72.
Baker purchased the five-acre lot for about $2,600 in 1990. The rocky, undeveloped land wasn't valuable to its former owners, but Baker saw its potential right away.
"I had it planned in my mind the whole time; I don't have blueprints," he said. "I saw the way I wanted it, and when it was done, it was exactly that."
He spent the next few years building and moved into the original structure in 1995.
The house resembled a plain box at first, but Baker has since added a full kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom and covered porch in addition to various collectibles, provincial furniture and lush landscaping.
"It went from a box to something beautiful," said Baker's partner Kathy Hamel, with whom he shares his home.
Baker has never officially hired help for his various projects but estimates a few dozen friends have pitched in over the years."He has good friends," said Hamel. "If he needs a little help, all he has to do is yell and they're here."A retired pipelayer and former boilermaker, Baker said he learns as he goes with his various building projects."I worked in construction all my life and did all kinds of trades," said Baker. "You've got to keep everything clean and plumb and if you do, you're fine."Baker and Hamel estimate spending about $25,000 over the years for supplies, since many of the materials were salvaged."It's a lot of physical work, but it's great," Hamel said.Baker said he often relies on word of mouth to obtain materials.For instance, his brother used to work for the county and often knew of bridges slated to be torn down."Me and my brother could take down bridges faster than their crews could," Baker said with a laugh.He has also dismantled old barns in exchange for materials that would otherwise be thrown away.
"A lot of people would want (barns) off their property," Hamel said. "He'd go out and get some buddies and they'd take it away."Baker estimates his home is made up of materials from about six barns and five bridges and now measures about 100 feet by 40 feet.The first room constructed was his living room, a wide-open space with high ceilings and a picture window facing the front yard.It took about 10 people to put up the front wall in two pieces, Baker said."It's all pinned together like in the old barns, like they did in the old days," he said.The spacious loft above his living room is flanked by a railing purchased from a former Pittsburgh newspaper about 15 years ago.The railing was torn out during a remodeling project at the office, so Baker bought the pieces."This is where the people walked up and paid their bills," he said. "You can even see their cigarette burns in the wood."<B>One step at a time</B>The stairway leading to the loft began with a cinderblock frame, Baker said.He added wooden steps and installed stone facing from the old Camp Redwing Bridge. Camp Redwing is a Girl Scout camp in Renfrew."I worked with a friend who's a stone mason for a year," said Baker. "I worked with him to learn how to cut stone, almost like an apprentice."Native American-influenced decorations like small sculptures and delicate dreamcatchers are scattered throughout the living room and loft.Before moving to Renfrew, Baker lived for about 14 years in Colorado and took inspiration from styles prevalent there.
"That's why everything in the house is like this; everything is big and bold and strong," he said. "They would build their houses into the mountains there."In Baker's case, he built his home around the natural terrain.In the bathroom, a 15-foot glacial rock extends into the room and through the wall."It wasn't what I'd planned, but I just made my room right around it," said Baker, who simply placed the bathroom mirror above the slab of sandstone.It adds to the look of the room, which will soon be finished with quartzite flooring arranged in a mosaic pattern."It's beautiful; it's shiny; it looks like it's got silver through it," said Baker, who traded with a friend to obtain the thin, sheetlike pieces of stone.In addition to its interesting looks, the stone also serves a purpose; Hamel often sits on it to put on makeup or style her hair.Another large, flat rock is located underneath Baker's bed. A deep hollow is visible in the rock, and Baker believes Native Americans once used the space to grind corn.Two other holes are covered by floorboards, but Baker wants to install Plexiglass over them so they are visible.
The area's history is interesting to Baker, who prominently displays photographs of turn-of-the-century Renfrew on the bedroom walls."None of this is left; it's all disappeared," he said.A photograph of the now-dismantled Renfrew Bridge was especially fascinating, Baker said."One of the bridges I tore down was built exactly the same way," he said, referring to the Camp Redwing Bridge.Wood saved from the bridge was also used for support beams in the kitchen ceiling.Along with the unfinished wooden beams and cabinets, Baker's 1930s-era refrigerator and stove give the impression of another time and place.Several other items came from old barns, like a cabinet formerly used to store grain and an upright ladder, repurposed as a sort of kitchen shelf.The home's wooden walls are covered in patterned cotton cloth, which can be taken down and washed, Baker said.The stone walls provide year-round insulation from the elements, and the couple's energy costs are fairly low, Hamel said."The rocks stay about 45 or 50 degrees," Baker said, though he relies on a wood-burning stove and a propane heater in extreme cold.
The kitchen opens onto an airy wraparound porch with hemlock floors and plenty of seats for visitors.In the yard, Baker constructed a waterfall running down and around dozens of large rocks.For fun, he plans to build a wooden ship at the top, a life-size replica of Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria.John Robinson of Butler has known Baker for about 25 years and said he admires what Baker has done with the property."The property wasn't fit for a billy goat," said Robinson. "It was nothing but rocks. It was like an obstacle course out there."Robinson has helped with dozens of projects and watched the home evolve."It's a work of art," he said. "It looks like it's been here for 200 years, and it's really just been about 15."The house is visible from the road and people often pull over, Hamel said."We'll have people that will just stop by," Hamel said. "At least once a month, somebody stops, and in the summer, it's more."<I></I>Baker said he's always had a creative streak, expressed through painting, music and now, his home."I like creating things, taking things that no one else wants and making them beautiful," Baker said. "This is my 5-acre canvas."
