Classic Barn

We decided to sell our turn of the century barn on our little ranch in Northwest Colorado. This decision has lured me into research about other vintage barns and on into the world of recycled history. From preserving barns to re-purposing barn wood into new homes, art and furniture – all options assure recycled history.

Dismantling and recycling old barns, barn boards and timbers is an environmentally friendly use of existing resources – rich with our American history. Today, there is a strong trend to try to recycle the old barns that are scattered over our American landscape. Aged timbers and planks, rusty corrugated tin and hardware are in high demand to those who cherish recreating history in their own environment.

barnwood vanity

Photo courtesy of Woodland Creek Furniture

From the plains of Oklahoma come two heartwarming stories of barn preservation.

One story hails from Arcadia, Oklahoma where the famous round barn was a part of where my path crossed from time to time in days gone by.

Located on Route 66 in the heart of Arcadia, this barn is one of America’s landmarks. It was built in 1898 and after serving it’s farming purposes also became a place where dances were held for the townspeople. When new interstates were built and traffic declined on Old Route 66, the town of Arcadia and it’s famous barn declined with it. In 1988, after years of neglect, the immense 60′ diameter roof finally collapsed.

Luther “Luke” Robison (a retired building contractor) who had long admired the Round Barn, decided he would save the historic landmark from utter ruin.  With the help of his ‘Over the Hill Gang’ (retired carpenters), he tackled the project and after four long years and lots of donations and support was able to declare victory for one more barn saved in our nation.

Another barn just outside the town I lived in for 23 years, Yukon, Oklahoma, is another story of near fatality but glorious rescue.

As reported by the Daily Oklahoman, “This old Yukon barn was about to go the way of many farm buildings that empty out, fall down and return to the soil they served. Its lines showed a dignified past, and its skin showed an aging process. It was topped by a hip roof, graceful wings spread tensely by the width of the barn. A pulley and grapple hooks could be seen from a window. But shingles were flapping and roof tiles falling, and the barn was bending over and slumping. The weather vanes were clinging with rooster claws at a different angle from the building tilt. Then, a crew of master carpenters that knows barns best stood it up straight again.

The barn was built in 1935 by H.I. Grimes, who called his estate Avondale Farms. Bob Funk, chairman of Express Personnel Service and owner of a Limousin ranch, bought this piece of adjoining land four years ago on Wilshire Boulevard near Yukon. was nostalgic. “I grew up on a farm that had a barn like this. I hauled and stacked many a bale of hay in it.”

A local engineering company quoted him a prohibitive fee just for straightening it, but a cattle customer recommended an Amish “barns builder” in Indiana. Bob Funk found David Bontrager and invited him to Oklahoma. Amish people are prohibited by their religion from driving and generally don’t take well to airplanes. But when Bontrager was on vacation, his group stopped in Oklahoma to look over the job.

Funk, who wears a white cowboy hat with curled brim, and Bontrager, in his flat, black, straw hat, discussed the battered barn. “It was about to the point of beyond help,” the Amish carpenter told the worldly executive. “I told him to tear it down. It will cost more to fix than to build a new one.” Funk shared a personal side. “There’s a lot of history here,” he said. He hears of it often, when a neighboring farmer or rancher pulls into the driveway and climbs out of a pickup into the drive to check the progress and pass on some stories. This is how Funk learned that in the barn’s younger years, it served as a community gathering spot for dances in the hay mow, the loft that spreads across the top of the barn. “The neighbors come by and say, ‘Please don’t tear down the old barn.’ There are so many memories.”

So, Mr. Funk made a decision to restore the barn in spite of the challenges and formidable costs. As they say, the rest is history. Today, a beautiful restored barn stands on the site with magnificent Clydesdale horses in it’s stalls and free tours for those who wish to visit.

Whether preserving or re-purposing – recycling history is the right thing to do.

Turn of the Century Barn for sale in Grandma’s Treasures Online/Vintage Living.