By Cindy GladdenRecord Staff WriterIn a little valley north of Warrenton, Dave Boan has created “a tribute to the past.”With reclaimed barn wood, a creative drive and lots of hard work, Boan, 69, has preserved and erected a total of seven buildings and one covered bridge.Mossy Acres Park is the name he has given the secluded haven.In addition to the collection of nostalgic buildings and tools from yesteryear, pathways and walls are covered with a natural coating of moss, giving it an ethereal, medieval feel.“This is where all the magic happens,” said Boan as he began his tour at the park headquarter’s cabin. “All the buildings are multipurpose. The headquarters’ building is a shop, a garage, a den and a bar, you name it.”Boan said he didn’t like his real job all that much. He retired in 1990 from his high-rise apartment building maintenance job in St. Louis. In 2001, the Boans purchased the 10-acre plot, previously used as a weekend getaway. There was no running water or plumbing. Electricity had been hooked up only two years before.A 16- by 24-foot cabin built with local Charrette Creek cedar sits in the middle of the overgrown parcel. Now twice its original size, Boan added a kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms, while preserving the original cabin design. A library ladder offers access to a loft bedroom in the original cabin. Wood heat provides a finishing touch to the nostalgic feel of the place.“It was a rough sell with the ‘missus’ because this road out here was two tracks coming in for a four-wheel drive and the brush drug on both sides of the car and the roof,” he said. “We were snowed in here for 13 days one year.”Since 2001, Boan has let his imagination run wild. He scoured auctions and estate sales for antique tools, hardware and other interesting artifacts. He purchased or found many old barns and outbuildings that he could use as material for his creations.Boan’s most recent project was the erection of a 42-foot oak covered bridge fashioned after the Eric Sloane post and beam design. The last trenail, or wooden spike, went in Friday, Dec. 13, completing 14 months of work. His plans for the future could include a combined church and one-room schoolhouse.“He’s been implementing a dream,” said his wife, Barb. “He’ll never be happy unless he has another big project.”In addition to saving and reusing wood from decaying farm buildings, Boan has a penchant for order. Lumber is meticulously stacked for easy access; tools are hung along joists, on doors and neatly displayed as they would in a real general store.“I cleared everything by hand,” said Boan. “It’s a preservation of a different way of life. This is my artistic expression. It’s all about fun.”Boan uses very few power tools on his projects. He enjoys crafting the buildings in the way they were originally constructed.Before finding the wooded acreage, Boan said he and his wife lived near Wright City between the interstate and the railroad tracks. It wasn’t his idea of peaceful living.“I shopped a long time looking for a place and finally found it here and then started the salesman work on the ‘missus’ telling her that it was a diamond in the rough, but that I could make this happen,” he said. “And she stuck with me. We made it happen.“I like to say that we are four miles from town and 100 miles from nowhere,” Boan added.Content to share the property with his wife, family members, a few close friends and Missouri’s wildlife, Boan’s property is not open to the public.

Cindy Gladden Photo. CRAFTING THE PAST — Dave Boan, Warrenton, stands in front of one of 7 buildings he has preserved or built on his property. The feed store houses firewood inside and raw lumber outside.