The Carriage House

One of the five original buildings on the O’Hara Homestead, the Carriage House is built of hand-hewn square timbers that date back over 180 years. Horizontal saw cut marks on the wooden siding show that it’s lumber was sawn on site here at the sawmill. The distinct vertical saw marks are visible if you look closely.

 Naturally, the carriage house originally stored the family carriage and wagon in the summer, and their sleigh in the winter.  Since this building served four generations of O’Haras, it witnessed the evolution from the horse-drawn carriage to the automobile. Crankcase oil stains on the upper storey plank floor indicate that this building, over the years, served as both carriage house and a garage.

Today, the upstairs level houses a variety of tools and implements that would have been used on homesteads in the middle to late 1800’s, and downstairs you will find a collection of carriages, wagons and sleighs from the early days on this farm.

To take a Virtual Tour of the Carriage House, click here.