Fall Home Improvement
Staff Writer
LITTLETON — Where most people would see only tattered roofing, weathered shingles and tired timbers, Chris and Dawn DiGiovanni see history.
“We knew before we moved up here that we wanted to restore it,” says Chris, standing next to the old potato house. “It’s part of the County’s history.”
Pioneer Times Photo/Sarah Berthiaume
POTATO HOUSE CREW — From left, James Nason, Donald Mooers, Dave Rairdon and Clancy have been on site at the Littleton home of Chris and Dawn DiGiovanni this summer, working to restore a potato house that’s close to a century old.
When the Littleton couple bought their Route 1 farmhouse, their property included the aging potato house situated closer to the surrounding fields. But with a sagging roof and crumbling beams, the 26-foot by 35-foot building didn’t have much promise.
That didn’t seem to bother the DiGiovannis, though. This summer, with help from local contractors, they started restoring the potato house. Contractor Bill Dunbar brought in stones which were spread and compacted before a layer of concrete was poured. Breaks in the foundation were shored up and then work started on the sagging roof.
“We had to jack it up first,” said carpenter Donald Mooers. “And then we had to put in the new beams and framing.”
Mooers said this is the first time he’s done a construction project like this, but hopes are that the bulk of the work will be finished by this fall.
The DiGiovannis don’t have much history on their potato house, but most likely it was built around the same year their farmhouse was constructed — 1883. They’ve discovered an old picture of it at the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum and they’ve noticed that their style of potato house is becoming rare.
“Parts of it were so far gone that we couldn’t save it 100 percent,” said Dawn. “But we’re saving as much as we can.”
“It’s part of history,” added Chris. “And we want to preserve that.”
Pioneer Times Photo/Sarah Berthiaume
WORK IN PROGRESS — Donald Mooers, pictured here, has been busy this summer, restoring a Route 1 potato house owned by Dawn and Chris DiGiovanni of Littleton.
BEFORE and DURING — Before crews started raising the roof, the potato house had a noticeable sag that’s seen in the photo at left taken by Dave Rairdon. And a few weeks ago, the potato house started standing slightly straighter thanks to the crew of Donald Mooers Carpentry.
