American Renovations

American Renovations LLC
Mike LeClere
1431 Franklin St.
Center Point, IA 52213
319-551-0078
amrenovations@hotmail.com

• Master Mechanical-HVAC
• Solar
• Remodeling

American Renovations specializes in HVAC- we can keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Contact us for products and pricing.

More Pics of the Barn

We have the barn sealed up for the winter. Next year we will focus on the windows, floor, painting the outside, and installing the solar panels.

The Annual Tea Party At Stanley's Tea Room Held 10 4 09

I started hosting Tea Parties about four years ago. Each one is a different theme. This year I had help from my great friend Ann (aka Sparkle). We decided to add "crafting" to the party. It was a huge success! Ann made a special ghost box for each guest. Inside was precut contents to make Halloween treat holders. We also made a couple of cards. I must say this was the best Tea Party yet. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much that we are planning on doing another one in November to make Christmas items!

Gazette Article

Old barn rebuilt and reborn in Center Point
Posted on Oct 09, 2009 by Dave Rasdal.
Like a set of Lincoln Logs, the barn came apart near Manchester and went up again in Center Point.
OK, it wasn’t as easy as assembling a toy.
But diagrams drawn by the Amish, who tore the 36-by-48-foot barn down in June, helped Dusty Sylver and her husband, Mike LeClere, rebuild it on the 19 acres they own at the northwest edge of Center Point. Dusty’s nephew, Mike Silver (Yes, they have the same last name but, as an artist, Dusty changed hers.) and his Silver Brothers Construction company were also a big part.
“I’ve loved barns ever since I was a kid,” says Dusty, 47, who grew up on a Central City acreage. “I always knew I wanted to put a barn back here.”
At first, Dusty and Mike considered purchasing a “kit” barn. It just didn’t seem the same.

Members of the Amish community take down a 36-by-48-foot barn and addition east of Manchester on June 22. The century old barn has been reassembled at the Center Point home of Mike LeClere and Dusty Sylver. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Then they heard about a century old Manchester barn to be torn down.
“We rode motorcycles to see it,” Dusty says. “It was love at first sight. When they told us the price, it was even better.”
For $5,000, the barn was theirs. That included cataloging and delivery. They would have to reconstruct it themselves.
The days dragged by until the barn boards arrived in late June. After all, as Harley-Davidson motorcycle riders, Dusty and Mike couldn’t wait to build “The Hog Barn” for their machines.
They couldn’t wait to add it to their gardens (flower, vegetable and butterfly), landscaping and private trails in woods adjacent to the public Cedar Valley Nature Trail.
They couldn’t wait to raise it next to their 1934 farmhouse.
As work began on a foundation, Dusty started her blog, The Bike Barn (http://thebikebarniniowa.blogspot.com), where she’s posted pictures and a narrative.
“That’s why I did the blog,” Dusty says, “so I could keep track of this because I’m not going to remember. I’m not going to ever do this again.”
The barn took shape through September, even though some broken old boards couldn’t be used.
“It’s everything and more,” says Mike LeClere, 45. “We were looking for the mortise and tenon construction and the big beams. When we walked in at first and saw up through a hole in the floor to the sky … it was part of history.”
After using some new wood, making 100 new pegs and investing another $10,000, the old barn is being reborn as Dusty’s loft studio for stained glass and The Hog Barn.
“I hope this makes people think about tearing down an old barn if the structure is good,” Mike says. “They don’t build them like this any more.”
United States University of Iowa

We Continue To Get The Hog Barn Ready For Winter

Today Mike stopped at Menards and bought an overhead door, 2 windows, and the rest of the siding. He poured the pad for the door today and will install the overhead tomorrow.

We went out to Chris' today (a guy who just stopped one day and asked us if we would like some timbers from a barn he had torn down) and sorted through wood from the barn that he had torn down. We found enough timbers for the rest of the loft railing! I snapped a few photos- it looks great!


Halloween Time and the loft is perfect for decorating.


I had took a couple of vacation days (October 1st and 2nd) hoping that I would get a lot done on Charlotte's Web. It was cold and rainy both days. I had to bring the pieces that we ready to wrap with copper foil into the house because the tape didn't want to stick due to the cold. I wrapped what I had cut and ground. On Saturday I began cutting pieces again and I now have all but 4 pieces of Charlotte's Web cut now. Hopefully next week end stays warm and I can get those ready to wrap.

The Gazette Pays Us A Visit And I Started Moving In!

I had contacted The Gazette in June and asked them if they were interested in a barn story. They said they were and since that time they have sent several photographers out to document the demolition and reconstruction of my barn. Dave from the Gazette came out on Friday to gather details of project last Friday! I hope this sparks a public interest and awareness of our barn history here in Iowa. I know Dave will write an awesome article!

I began moving into my loft studio on Saturday! Mike strung some lights for me and also brought down some portable lights on a stand. We strung a cord to the house and I had power! The solar panels won't get put on this year so I will have to improvise! I brought down the radio and I was set!

I wanted to start working on my window design and since the window is huge (54" x 42") I decided that I should create it as close to where it will be placed as I could. Mike helped me set up a make shift table with saw horses and plywood- hey it works!

This past week Mike had contacted a gentleman who repairs windows and asked him to start saving glass for me. We were both surprised when Mike got a call from him that he had glass for me and that Mike could pick it up! To my surprise there was about 8 large pieces of glass!

After I finished gathering my glass work tools and setting up shop I began drawing out the web design. I then cut the paper pieces. I then used the paper patterns to trace out the design on the glass and then started cutting my pieces. I had company Saturday evening. Mike and Nephew Mike sat up in the loft having a few brews while I worked. I enjoyed the company.

When Nephew Mike left Mike and I were just hanging out looking at my work when something swooped out of no where! A bat!!! He quickly realized that he was not going to be leaving with us in the way! The bat quickly retreated back up to the perlins and there he stayed. We soon decided to call it a night and when I went back down today I did not see the bat. But there are alot of places to hide and he may have been with me today as I continued working on "Charlotte's Web".

I'm pretty sure this big opening is how the bat got in!

Me working in my studio!

My web design for the West window.

I started to wrap the pieces in copper foil.

My barn owl!

This Weeks Progress

On Thursday the "Dylans" from Silver Brother's Construction came out and finished the roof. Saturday more of the siding got put on and the Hay Trolley got hung.

On Sunday Big Dylan showed up around 7:30 and he and Mike hung more siding. This morning it rained for about 5 minutes and then stopped. When I walked down to the barn there was a rainbow!

I got to drive the big fork lift again today. My son Dakota snapped some photos of me raising and lowering Mike as he hung siding.

We wrapped it up around 3:00 pm. The Dylans are supposed to come back out tomorrow and finish the siding, facia, and soffits.

Shortly after I went in to the house to get cleaned up I heard what sounded like cars crashing. I had just stepped out of the shower so I yelled at Dakota to go and see if everything was okay at the barn. I quickly got dressed and went down to the barn to see what had happened....the trolley had fallen!

As Mike, Dakota, and I surveyed the trolley Mike saw right away what had happened. When the Amish fixed it they had only brazed the outside so basically it was an accident waiting to happen. I just thank God that no one was any where near the trolley when it fell because that would have been a tradgedy I am sure. When the trolley fell it broke in 3 places this time. Mike is going to fix it but we will never hang it again. Instead it will sit in a corner of the loft for memories sake only.

I returned to the house and Mike continued to work on cleaning up in the barn. I later went back down and he was hooking up the light that he had hung on the front of the barn today. He was trying to surprise me! He said he felt really bad that the trolley had broken because he knew how much I really loved that trolley. It was a very nice surprise! And the light is absolutely stunning all lite up!

9 21 09- The Dylans came over today. They got the front and north side soffit and facia done. It rained a little today and it was very foggy this morning. The first day of fall is tomorrow!

9 25 09 - Mike finished the deck for the stairs going up to the loft! It looks great! Things are getting wrapped up. The big fork lift is parked in the driveway ready to be picked up. The scaffolding is down and Mike will return that tomorrow.

We decided that the big vent that I bought to go on top of the barn was too rusted to put up. I will use it as a decoration for the flower bed that I am going to put in front of the barn.

I am going to focus on getting my window design done for the West side so that we have some light coming in because it's pretty dark in the barn now! I'm going to cut the glass in a web design and call it Charlotte's Web!