The Barn Renovation

I don't have many long standing life dreams, in short when I was a teen I mostly dreamed of getting away from where I was. But one dream I've always had is owning my own land that I could fill with animals and a big garden. Me and my husband Hunter achieved that dream when we bought our current property. I never thought I'd know how to ride horses or even own them, but they are now a huge part of my life. Being such, we've reached a new dream, which is fixing up the old barn that came with our property. A decision came at one point, would it make more sense to tear it down and build a new barn or renovate it.
It was built with the house originally back in the 1800's and for being such an old barn, it is in incredible shape. It was built using hardwood lumber and rock from the very land it was built on. Despite the obvious rot, paint peeling, and roof damage the structure itself stood strong. It was originally used to house working mules, openings in the ceiling to the hay loft to drop hay down to the animals below; giving away where old stalls must've gone. Even the old manure spreader remains in the barn, a photo of the mules hooked up to it standing in front of the barn remains in the house. When it came to destroying it, I felt it would be better to give it a new life, even if it didn't make financial sense.
By renovating the barn I will be improving the lives of my horses and donkeys. They will have their own stalls to eat in peace from each other, a way to catch and handle them safely for their farrier and vet visits, a place to bathe and doctor them, and a place to hold them in case of injury or extreme weather. I would be lying if I didn't mention it would be for my own benefit as well. The floor is eroded and made up entirely of pulverized manure, every step the horses take kicks up fine powdery dust. As someone with asthma, as well as being paranoid about COPD, I would benefit greatly just from the floor alone being redone to be dust free.
But even greater, I miss the days when I'd sit out at a barn with my horses hanging around and just be. In Texas, the barn I boarded Kelso at had this. Some days I wouldn't even ride, I'd just come out to groom Kelso and sit. Maybe someone else would pop in for a chat, maybe I'd just watch the rain or sunset. It was something I felt was deeply missing when I moved here. While I won't have the element of socializing in my own personal space, I will have my sanctuary back and a more comfortable way to spend time with the horses.
With all that being said, I am beyond excited we're finally able to fix the barn up. This is something I never dreamed in my life I'd be able to do, much less most of the things we do. Below you will find pictures of the "before" as I post updates on the renovation this coming year.
For those curious and are fans of my husbands work: No, this is not being renovated using funds from Hunter's streamathon. His barn fund is for his working studio spaces.