Craftsman restores barns using time-honored techniques

A carpenter constructs; a craftsman creates. Dan Otto is a craftsman.

He appreciates the beauty of the wood, the textures, the hues, and the grains that are brought to life with the right amount of varnish. He has great respect for the buildings of the past, whether a massive old barn or a grand Victorian home.

Otto is as comfortable with a chisel and mallet in his hand as he is with a pneumatic nailer. He believes that the old tools have their place in restoring the buildings of the past.

"When I do a barn restoration, I use the same tools they used when they built the barn 100 years ago," he said. "Our drills, mallets, augers and chisels are all hand tools."

Barn restoration is a passion for Otto. He has reconstructed and restored dozens. He even created one for his own use on July 4, 1979. He invited 70 friends to an old-fashioned barn raising. In less than eight hours, using no machinery, the group was able to put up the frame, hang the rafters and put the floor down.

"The key to doing a barn raising is to have everything organized ahead of time," he said. "We had the bents (sections) ready to be raised and the rafters stacked in a pile, ready to be put up."

Otto, an avid reader, had done his homework and had prepared everything, including recreating some wooden pegs that were beyond repair. He also had studied the tradition and wanted to make it a true barn raising.

"The Fourth of July has historically been a day for barn raisings," said Otto. "It was usually good weather, the crops were in and there was plenty of hands available to help."

Just as in the old days, the workers at the Otto barn raising were treated to a celebration with tables laden with food, including a 200-pound pig roasting and a country band for entertainment.

"Some friends even wrote a song about a barn raising and brought a violin, guitar and harmonica to accompany them when they sang it," he added. "It was one of those days that everyone who was there will never forget."

They also won't forget the appearance of a sundog, a bright circular spot on a solar halo.

"There was a rainbow of color surrounding the sun, " said Otto. "It was the only one I have ever seen."

Dan Otto believes that he is just one in a long line of Otto family members who have been craftsmen. A student of genealogy, he has traced family members who were wood workers and cabinet makers back to the 1700s.

His earliest recollection of learning about woodworking came when he was 5 and his grandfather gave him a gift.

"It was his old tin lunchbox,' he added. "Inside were some of his old tools, a hammer, a pair of pliers and some other ones. I carried it around and took it with me when my dad would be working on something at his workbench. I'd watch carefully and he would explain whatever he was doing. He always showed me how to do things. He never told me that I wasn't old enough to use my tools."

Like any energetic young boy, Dan Otto was able to put his knowledge to good use building soap box racers, forts and tree houses.

His love of working with his hands continued after college. After graduating with a degree in physics, Dan Otto was drafted and had two tours of duty in Vietnam. He returned to the Midwest and started doing simple carpentry. That led to antique restoration.

When he was living in a one-room school house in Elburn, he decided it would be nice to have a barn in the back for his tools. That led to dozens of barn restorations.

"Living in that first house gave me an appreciation for the way homes were built 100 years ago," he added.

His love and respect for the integrity of older homes led to old house restoration. When restoring an old home, he can see what the house must have looked like in its own time. Through research and experience he is able to bring the old structure back to life, whether adding a historically correct porch or replacing a cupola.

His restoration work led to salvage. In an effort to save some of the architectural elements that old homes are known for, he has often gone into old homes before demolition and removed complete staircases, molding, flooring, fixtures and hardware. Most of it has ended up in his barn and he often sells things to people in need of certain elements. Some of the salvaged items ended up in his own house.

"When I built our house I knew that I wanted it to have a country feel," he said. "I loved the symmetry of the New England colonials. Our house is sided with cedar but I let it go to barn gray. Most people don't realize that it isn't an old farmhouse. It fools people all the time."

Otto incorporated salvaged flooring into his home along with windows from an old grade school in Somonauk. The mantel piece is from an old house in North Aurora and the front door with beveled glass came from a mansion in Mendota.

"Whenever I can make something old work in an old house," he added, "I go out of my way to make it happen."

Dan Otto's wife, Jan Jorstad, shares his love of the simple country life. When developers purchased the property across the road from where they live, she got involved. She organized the neighbors to form the Pouley Road Preservation Society. Jorstad was instrumental in getting Kane County to adopt a rustic road program that protects country roads.

"She's like a little terrier," said Otto, "who gets a hold of your ankle and doesn't let go."

Otto hopes that more people will not just live in old houses but restore them to their original beauty.

"I draw my inspiration from the past," he added. "The more troubled the present is, the more uncertain the future - the more we need to look to the past."