Sam Baker with his partner Kathy Hamel at their recycled home in Renfrew on Tuesday July 6, 2010. Butler Eagle File Photo

Justin Guido

Sam Baker built his house from the ground up — literally.

To construct his rustic, weathered-wood home, the Renfrew man mostly used salvaged materials from dismantled bridges and barns. By July 6, 2010, Baker and his partner, Kathy Hamel, lived in a home built mostly of materials salvaged from six barns and five bridges in Butler County.

Baker designed the house in his mind, not with blueprints. They spent about $25,000 on supplies for the house.

Baker purchased the 5-acre lot for about $2,600 in 1990. He spent the next few years building and moved into the structure in 1995.

“I had it planned in my mind the whole time; I don't have blueprints,” he said. “I saw the way I wanted it, and when it was done, it was exactly that.”