Chinchilla Shed
“It has been said that, at its best, preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a mutual concern for the future.” – William J. Murtagh
Imagine that… A building in the fields of Idaho has history. It is over 100 years old. It was once used to hold German prisoners of war, evidenced by the graffiti scratched into the walls. It was also used to raise chinchillas, and later house farm workers, now it is used as storage for old farm implements. This building is in bad shape, as can be seen in these photos. The brick is crumbling, the foundation is cracked, and the roof is caving in. Its future is threatened. Many other buildings like this one are also threatened.I grew up on a farm. This is an old shed in one of our fields. We call it the ‘Chinchilla Shed.’ Why? Because it is a part of the building’s history. This building has history.
It’s the American way, isn’t it? We tear down something in disrepair in order to replace it with something else, only to be repeated one or two generations later. I think we need to fight to preserve architectural history, even if that history is in the middle of a farm somewhere. Recently another historic house in my home town was demolished because it was in disrepair. It was built as the home of my 3rd great grandmother, Elizabeth Young Ellsworth. The building was bought and demolished by a family building a new home nearby. They took the original stone from its place and destroyed its history so they could use it as decoration of their suburban estate.
I hope to be able to dedicate my career to saving these buildings. To be able to give them new life, making them useful once more all while maintaining the history they contain. I spent some time in Southern France, and I was always fascinated by the interactions of modern architecture and historical buildings. I want to be able to bring that same historical sensitivity to areas that don’t seem to care.
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