Alison and Randy Roland's Amish-built garage features a gable rooline with a high ceiling to accomodate Alison's art studio on the second floor.

Alison Roland's dream of having an art studio on the second floor of a separate garage has come true, thanks to Gerry Thorpe of Bayhorse Gazebos & Barns in Red Hook and a super group of Amish builders who completed the entire job in just two days!

Bayhorse Gazebos & Barns has been selling hand-crafted Amish buildings, furniture and outdoor décor since 1989. They offer a full line of Amish-made sheds, gazebos, garages, chicken coops, horse barns, run-ins, lean-to buildings, outdoor furniture, outdoor décor and swing sets.

Alison is the Art Educator at Dutchess Day School. When she and her husband, Randy, joined their families together, they decided to create a family room in the existing garage in the lower level of their split ranch house. This necessitated constructing a new garage on the property.

"My dream was to have an art studio on our property and we decided to look for a garage with a second-level art studio," said Alison. "We looked at other companies that sell sheds/barns and came upon meeting Gerry at Bayhorse. I passed his company located on Rt.199 daily on my way to work and knew we had to go see his selection."

When she and Randy stopped by, they were immediately smitten with owner Gerry. "He is an outgoing, friendly, kind-hearted man with a big laugh. He was engaged in wanting to help us find the right product for our specific needs," sail Alison. "He did not have anything available that fit our description or scale, but he had the right Amish family builders that he had worked very closely with for several years. Another local family had something similar built that we were able to go see and that was the deciding moment of our wanting to go for the project."

Alison and Randy loved the barn they saw - a gable-roofed barn, two-story that was garage below and office above. "It was beautiful, well constructed with 8x10 beams. We were wowed and impressed. The client was equally helpful in describing their experience and mechanical information was given to us to best understand how it was built overall," said Alison.

They met again with Gerry to go over the measurements/scale of what they wanted - a 24 wide x 28 long barn with gable roof line that was higher for an interior ceiling for art studio. The roofline had to be wider as well as they wanted to have some flat standing walls for art painting and storage upstairs.

Gerry enabled them to work with the head of the Amish family company, the father who did all the designing and engineering. "We exchanged designs/drawings back and forth along with pricing according to our specs we needed," said Alison. "From start to finish, the designing and collaborative process was seamless and very accommodating."

She added, "Gerry was a great translator of information and kept us in the loop with updates. We never felt lost or confused in the whole process. We really were amazed that we were truly getting our dream building that catered to our every need. It was our design! The price? You couldn't beat it. We felt like we were valued customers and we made a great friend in the whole process. It was a 'family business' experience."

Alison said the installation was "the most amazing thing we have ever seen. The truck arrived early, an 18-wheeler with all the materials, trusses piled high and five young men to build our barn in two days!"

She and Randy just wanted to know how it was possibly going to happen in that short time period. "The young men were incredibly focused, skilled, organized and let me tell you, I have never seen people work as hard as they did. They spent little time talking, ate dinner quickly and went back to work until late at night," said Alison.

Alison and Randy did have an issue with the garage cement floor that was not at the right height for the new garage doors, and the young Amish men simply took this challenge, faced it, cut a new frame with wood and the issue was solved. "We couldn't believe our eyes. They had a remarkable work ethic and the knowledge to approach every detail and obstacle with grace and skill. It was the most amazing construction project we have ever seen and was completed in just two days!"

A few days later when the Red Hook building inspector came by, Alison said he was "beyond impressed" with the solid structure, heavy construction of the frame, perfect building technique and the beauty of the barn. "He was awe struck and said it was by far the best building in the area. We felt such pride and joy! He could not believe the price we paid for a building of this quality," she said.

They added electric, sheet rock and plumbing on their own to make the building fully functional. "We love our barn and art studio. We get compliments on it all the time, and in return we say the same thing over and over again - how much we loved the whole experience. We love our garage and we can't say enough about Bayhorse Gazebos and Barns and the Amish family that designed and constructed it.' We actually love to talk about the whole story," said Alison.

She said that "Gerry promised us a high-quality product that we would love and he was right! He came through in every way. I would recommend anyone to work with Gerry and Bayhorse any day. All of their products are high quality and they have a fabulous display at their outdoor space."

For more information on Bayhorse Gazebos & Barns, visit the website at bayhorse.com, call 845-758-1054 or better yet, take a drive and see the "showplace" at 2 Academy Hill Road, just off Rt. 199 between Red Hook and the Taconic State Parkway.

By Curtis Schmidt
Home & Garden Magazine
May 18 2016

Article used with permission from the Southern Dutchess News