Barn-Raising For the 21st Century

"Through one lens, the scene at Bill Taylor's home Tuesday could have been a glance into the turn of the 20th century. Workers used pulleys and ropes to hoist pieces of apricot-colored timber 30 feet high, guiding it into pre-cut slots that fit just so, like a larger-than-life Lincoln Logs set."

"The only evidence that this was not a 19th-century barn-raising was the fact that Taylor's Belgian draft horses were not the ones hoisting the wood with block and tackle. That job was left to the fuel-powered crane."

"Through another lens, however, this modern barn-raising was a perfect window into the early 21st century West. Aside from the obvious Industrial Age machinery, there was the word on everyone's lips: the environment.

When it comes to buildings, old is new again, and green is the new "new urbanism.""