Photos: Finishing his father’s work

Dennis Holland Jr. walks past his father’s barn in Newport Beach. His dad died of cancer last spring and left behind a lifetime of unfinished side projects. (Christina House / For The Times)

Sept. 28, 2014 5:05 PM PT

When Dennis Holland Sr. died of cancer last spring, he left behind a lifetime of unfinished projects. The dream of finishing them kept him young, his son says. Now Dennis Holland Jr. plans to pick up this collection of broken history and finish his father’s work.

Dennis Holland Jr. stands inside his father’s barn in Newport Beach, where his late dad worked on numerous side projects, including a Ford Model T and a 72-foot sailboat. (Christina House / For The Times)

Dennis Holland Jr. used to run to the old red barn every day after school to see what project his father had taken on that day. Dennis Holland Sr. worked on both a Model T and a Model A at times. (Christina House / For The Times)

Dennis Holland Jr. shows off the 1909 Buick Racer that his father used five times in the Great American Race, an annual endurance rally for vintage cars. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

Dennis Holland Jr. sometimes helped his father on his collection of cars, including a 1931 Ford Model A, left, at the family’s barn in Newport Beach. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

Noah Holland, 5, plays a electronic game while sitting on a 1943 Ford GPW that belonged to his grandfather, Dennis Holland Sr. who died in May. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

Dennis Holland Sr. rebuilt the historic Buffalo Ranch barn in the front yard of his Newport Beach home in 1996. It houses his classic car collection, workshop and other family items. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

The Spirit of Dana Point, formerly the Pilgrim of Newport, arrives at Newport Harbor in November 1983. Dennis Holland Sr. spent 13 years building the 118-foot replica pirate ship. (Don Leach / Daily Pilot)

Dennis Holland’s Pilgrim of Newport, now the Spirit of Dana Point, was acquired by the Ocean Institute in 2001. (Don Leach / Daily Pilot)

A plaque hangs in the Hollands’ barn marking the days in 1983 that the Pilgrim of Newport left Dennis Holland’s yard for Newport Harbor. (Don Leach / Daily Pilot)

Dressed as a pirate, Jamaica Rose comes aboard Dennis Holland’s Spirit of Dana Point, formerly the Pilgrim of Newport, with pet rat “Izzie.” The Revolutionary War-era tall ship was one of Holland’s many long-term projects. (Don Leach / Daily Pilot)