NBA Launches Virtual Barn Preservation Lecture Series
Join us for a series of virtual presentations led by experienced practitioners across the country in support of barn-preservation education
All lectures will be hosted via Zoom and are free to attend – open to anyone with an interest in learning more about historic barns!
The first presentation in our series – to be held Wednesday, August 12th at 6 pm EST – is entitled, “How to Speak Barn: the Language and Nuances of Barn Anatomy and the Language We Use to Describe Them.” See the description below for details.
To register for this event, send an email to RSVP with your name and location (city/county, state) to info@barnalliance.org by Sunday, August 9th. We will send an email with the details to call or login to all registrants on August 11th.
August 12th: “How to Speak Barn: the Language and Nuances of Barn Anatomy and the Language We Use to Describe Them”
Presenters: Jeffrey L. Marshall and Michael Cuba
Keywords: Barn Terminology, Barn Types, Outbuilding Identification, Timber-Framing/Historic Construction Methods and Techniques, NRHP-Evaluation, Criterion C
Working in preservation in an agricultural context requires uncommon expertise. Barns and other farm buildings require a specialized vocabulary and a working knowledge of the historical evolution of design and use. Learn the lingo, how to recognize change, and how to evaluate and describe elements necessary for National Register designation.
The language used to characterize our barns has varied from person to person and publication to publication over the centuries. Efforts to develop a coherent and unified way of describing these buildings have come far over the past few decades.
This lecture will explore appropriate terminology and the precedents that support this language. The more familiar we become with common nomenclature, the more effectively we are able to share our observations with one another and the easier it is to evaluate particular barns in context with similar barns.
Although this lecture is geared towards architects, engineers, preservation contractors, cultural resource professionals who may not be familiar with barns and general barn enthusiasts, everyone can learn from this exploration of historic farm buildings!
Jeffrey L. Marshall serves as President of the Heritage Conservancy based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, leading its efforts to conserve and preserve more than 15,000 acres of open space, farmland, wildlife habitat, and important watershed areas, along with many cultural historic assets in Bucks and Montgomery counties. Jeff has over 40 years of combined experience in land protection and historic preservation, and has authored several books on the architecture of southeastern Pennsylvania.
He has been a leader on the National Barn Alliance board of directors for over 10 years, serving as Vice President, President, and currently as Past President. He also serves on the boards of the Historic Barn & Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania and Preservation Pennsylvania.
Michael Cuba is a co-founder of Knobb Hill Joinery, a historic preservation company in northern Vermont focused on traditional restorative joinery techniques. He also operates Transom HPC, a small consulting firm offering dendrochronology coring services, research, and documentation for historic timbered structures.
Michael is an active member of the Traditional Timber Framer’s Research and Advisory Group. He has served in various leadership capacities with the Timber Framers Guild and currently serves as editor, along with Adam Miller, of the Guild’s quarterly journal, TIMBER FRAMING.
In 2019 Michael was elected to serve as the secretary of the National Barn Alliance’s board of directors.
Renovating the Little Red Barn
This guest post comes to us from one determined barn owner in Allen County, Indiana, and mirrors many of the renovation stories we at the NBA hear regularly, but Jessica Erpelding has the grit and grace to see through her efforts to legally and legitimately open an event barn for weddings and other gatherings–more importantly, to share the ups and downs she has faced along the way. To learn more about Jessica’s efforts to save this barn and share it with her community, click here!
Also, please note that we at the NBA know that not every old barn can be converted into assembly space for reasons of building codes/ zoning. We appreciate the and applaud the successful adaptations of these buildings, but know that this type of conversion is not the right fit for many barns across the country.
My name is Jessica Erpelding and this is my unexpected journey of how I fell in love with my barn and its story. When my husband and I were looking to buy our first home, we were supposed to look at another house down a block but we accidentally took a wrong left turn and stumbled upon this property that had been for sale for quite some time. We fell in love with the house, property, and the barn that was rundown but still a perk. However, we had no idea about the history of the barn until after we purchased it.
The Little Red Barn Today.
The bank barn is shown on a 1938 aerial picture of the property and may have been built prior to that. It was used for livestock up until Ruby and Oscar Hanefeld purchased the property in the early 1960s. They successfully transformed the barn into a popular reception hall in our area, that was in business until the late 1980s. This was no small feat. They built a beautiful hardwood dance floor upstairs by connecting the two existing haylofts. They also added onto the barn to accommodate bathrooms and running water. They even managed to heat the building and run the business year-round. At the time that Ruby and Oscar accomplished all of this, the property was located on a dirt/stone road and barn reception halls were unconventional.
Interior Image Showing Holes in the Roof.
Prior to us purchasing the property, the barn had sat with little to no maintenance for 25 years. The roof was leaking badly, there was severe water damage to the inside and part of the dance floor, and it was cluttered with remnants of the flea markets Ruby used to have from time to time. The upstairs was covered in about 3-4 inches of bird poop. It’s funny because I remember when the realtor showed us the barn he said to us, “Think of it as a diamond in the rough.” We had later decided to clean it up enough to have our own wedding reception in it. It was when I was pressure washing the floor upstairs, that I realized it was all beautiful hardwood. I remember thinking to myself, “There’s my diamond!”
The idea of bringing back this once thriving reception hall was a far-fetched dream, but a dream I was passionate about none-the-less. Over the years, we managed to replace the roof and fix the water damage. The more we fixed, the more the barn along with the dreams of its future came alive. So far, we have gotten approval from our county to go ahead with our reception hall plans. However, the codes and permits required for such a business in Indiana, especially here in Allen County, are much more strict than they were back when the Hanefeld family ran the business.
The Little Red Barn was run as an “unofficial” business in the past, meaning that it was never registered with the state and there are no tax records for such a business. So we were not able to be grandfathered into any zoning regulations. In the beginning, I assumed that we could fix up the barn little by little by charging discounted rental rates and using the proceeds as “donations” to invest back in to the barn. I put the barn up on Facebook, not really advertising that I was renting it out in October just to feel it out a little bit. The response was immense. Before I knew it I had 9 bookings in 2 months with no advertising. I thought this was great, and it was going to happen. I figured, when we got it to the point of where it was up to code, we would start it as an official business. Come to find out that everything about this plan was wrong and could have gotten me in some hot water.
My husband’s uncle happens to work for the Allen County planning department. He told me that in the last year alone, he shut down three barns that were doing the exact same thing I was planning to do. They received huge fines and were closed down. One of the barns was a repeat offender and they will be unable to open their doors for another 10 years. This honestly shocked me. I asked him, “But what if I told them the people using my barn were friends or family and they were “donating” to my barn?” He said, “Jess, I’ve heard it all before and it won’t matter. Once me, or someone like me, shows up at your doorstep, the gig is up. It only takes one person to complain or report what you are doing before we show up.” I’m not going to lie, this was disappointing to hear. However, what he said made sense. It’s not just a tax issue. It’s a public safety issue. There are codes and permits required to make sure that you are and continue to stay up to a certain level of service to ensure the safety of your guests. I knew that I did not want to get fined or shut down. I still had those 9 bookings to worry about. I also knew that I did not want the IRS down my throat or have somebody injured, or possibly killed in my reception hall. So there was only one thing to do…take the big plunge!
Now keep in mind that this conversation I had with my uncle took place in January of this year 2017. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Luckily, he helped guide me to the next steps I had to take quickly. First step, get in touch with your local counties planning department. Our planning department in Allen County offers you to schedule a conference with the heads of departments such as the board of health, board of zoning, board of traffic and highway safety, etc. This is a great opportunity and take advantage of it if your county offers it. In the conference you can discuss your plans on what you would like to do and what you want your business to offer, and they give you feedback as to what applications or permits you need to implement your plans.
In my case, the barn is located on an A1 zoning district, which means residential and agricultural use only. However, there is a loop hole to starting a reception hall and other businesses on an agricultural property. Per our county’s zoning rules a reception hall is allowed with approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals of a special use application. The application itself cost $350. I had to submit the application with the land deed and a detailed site plan. A detailed site plan is basically a drawing of the property and what it will look like once you start your project. You can draw this yourself or you can have an architect draw one for you. I chose the latter because I was advised that if at your hearing with the Board of Zoning Appeals, your drawing wasn’t right or missing something you have a greater chance of getting your application denied. That meant you would have to resubmit the application, another $350, and wait another month for another hearing. I wanted to do everything right the first time, so I hired a local engineer. Honestly, I would recommend this. Engineers do this for a living they know your county’s codes and requirements like the back of their hand. So, it takes out a lot of the guesswork and you are going to need one later on when you submit paperwork to the state anyways.
I also found out in my conference from the department of traffic and highway safety that a parking lot is required for such a business. Parking lots here in Allen County are required to be hard paved surfaces and they usually figure 3 people per car for your maximum occupancy. My maximum occupancy is 200, so I needed a lot for 70 cars. This was way bigger than I was planning and it sounded really expensive. My uncle helped me again by telling me that there is a variance application I could submit to request gravel instead of asphalt or concrete. The application was another $350 but being allowed to have gravel would save me thousands, so I submitted a variance application as well.
Second step is a hearing with the Board of Zoning appeals. This is a make or break process and is very important. The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) has reviewed your application and detailed site plan at this point, and this is where you plead your case. It is a great help to have the support of your neighbors and community. In most cases, this is their biggest concern. They can either approve or deny your project at this point. If your project is approved you are free to move on to the next phase, submitting applications to the state. However, if you get denied you have two choices, try again or give up your project. I had the approval of my neighbors and our mayor. The neighbor to the east of my property just requested that I have some sort of landscaping buffer put up to give him more privacy, which I found fair enough. I had our mayor write me a letter that I brought to the hearing. If you can’t get a letter from your mayor, letters from your neighbors are just as important. I am proud to say that as of March 15th we have gotten approval from Allen County to have a reception hall on the property.
Now we are moving on to our state paperwork. This will rezone the barn into a commercial property once it is inspected and up to code. This part is not cheap by any means. The barn used to have a septic, but it is unusable. So, in order to install a new septic system it must meet commercial standards. To do this you will need to hire a septic designer to submit the proper paperwork to state, and a soil scientist to take samples of the dirt and survey the property for the septic designer. We have already submitted out paperwork to state and they will send me the requirements like how big of a gallon system it has to be and where it has to be located. As of now, we have a rough idea of how big it has to be and where it has to be located. Unfortunately, we have a high clay content in our Indiana soil, so the system will have to be located about 3/4 acre away from the barn itself. Needless to say, this is going to be my biggest expense. My engineer is working on the detailed drawing of the inside. This is expensive, but well worth it if you can get it all right the first time around. We also need to add another stairway to the upstairs dance floor for an emergency exit, smoke and pull fire alarms, and make it handicapped accessible somehow.
When this all started, I had no idea what I was getting into. This process is very expensive and not easy, but if you take it in baby steps with stride you can do anything. We never prepped for financing because I thought I could have the barn pay for itself. I have been a stay at home mom for four years, so it’s not that I have bad credit I just have lack of it. Everything is in my husband’s name and because of this our debt-to-income ratio would be too high for a traditional business loan. So, if you are considering making this journey yourself learn from my mistake and prep yourself financially for a loan. We have been taking some steps in hopes of qualifying for a loan or financial assistance in the future. This includes cleaning up our credit scores, getting some revolving credit in the form of a credit card that I am keeping at a low balance and paying on time, and registering the business as an LLC and applying for a DUNs # to built up a business credit score.
Most banks do not like to lend to start-up businesses, so make sure that you have a sound business plan. I have two. One is for potential investors/lenders, and one for traditional banks. You usually need a credit score higher than 720 in order to apply for a start-up business loan. That’s why it is a good idea to build your business credit score as well if you don’t have the greatest credit. Talk with your local banks and see what they require for business loan and make sure you tell them that it is a start-up business because they may require additional information. If you get denied, don’t be afraid to ask why. It is the only way you can better your application for the next time around. We are self-funding everything now until we are able to qualify for a loan, hopefully, in the next few months. Since conventional loans are out of our reach at the moment, I am stepping out of my comfort zone and searching for unconventional funding in the form of investors, lenders, grants, or donations. I have started a Kickstarter account as well. If I am successful on this platform, I think I can start a movement that inspires others like me to believe that they too can help save the precious few old barns we have left. I’m nobody special, so if I can do this anybody can.
The Barn Before the Erpeldings Got to Work!
The point is don’t give up. I was not in the greatest position to start this venture, but I have accomplished more in the last four months than I had ever dreamed. This IS something that ordinary people can do. My advice is to reach out to your county, community, neighbors, and family. Talk about your plans and seek advice. I know I couldn’t have done what I did if it wasn’t for the advice and support of others. You will inevitably have bumps in the road, but great things that come easy won’t last and the great things that lasts won’t come easy.
Read MoreDating Barns in New Jersey with Dendrochronology
Dating Barns in Holland Township, New Jersey with Dendrochronology (Part 1)
This month’s post was written by NBA member and Historic Preservation Consultant, Carla Cielo. She has been working hard for many years to raise awareness of historic barns in her area and will be featuring some of the results of this work during the first-ever Dendro-Dated Barn Tour later this month on October 17th.
Photo credit: C. Cielo
Dendrochronology which is commonly known as tree ring dating, derives the felling date of the trees that were used to build a structure. At $2,000 a barn, few can afford the luxury of dating barns by this method. So why undertake such an expense? If an approximate date would suffice, the Holland Township Historic Preservation Commission (HTHPC) would be content with the dates assigned to each of the 88 barns that were surveyed and studied in Holland Township, New Jersey and were based on a visual analysis of the timbers, saw and auger marks, nails, framing methodology, and plan. But the commission is after a lot more…
Image Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Wydner
When viewed as a collection of barns in a defined region, the barns reveal a history of agricultural settlement to which dendrochronology can enhance. Holland Township, which borders the Delaware River and the state of Pennsylvania in northern Hunterdon County, was associated with the 1727 Durham Iron Furnace early on, and, as such, supported easterly migration from Pennsylvania. The HTHPC received two grants from the NJ Historical Commission to dendro date 10 of the oldest barns in the township and hopes to answer the following questions from the precise dates:
• When did the Pennsylvania Forebay bank barn form migrate from Pennsylvania into Holland Township, New Jersey?
• Does the earlier ground-level, three-bay, swing beam barn type predate German migration from Pennsylvania?
• Was the ground-level, three-bay, swing beam barn type built during the 1750-90 tenant period?
• Did a much lighter style of timber framing migrate from Pennsylvania along with the forebay barn form?
The results of the first 10 barns tested will be published this fall along with the first ever dendro dated barn tour.
Editor’s note: As mentioned in the introduction, Carla is leading a FREE barn tour on October 17th that will feature several these dendro-dated barns and other structures in Hunterdon County – see details below!
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In Madison, New Hampshire – A Tour of 100 Year Old Barns
View of Joy Farm
This post comes from our barn-loving friends in Madison, NH. This is the first year of their barn tour, but it will certainly not be their last! What a great event!
The Madison Historic Barn Tour weekend, July 11 & 12, 2014 is fast approaching. With seven wonderful old 18th and 19th century barns on the tour, including E.E. Cummings’ Joy Farm, interest is growing rapidly. The small Town of Madison is located in the beautiful Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire. Incorporated in 1852, Madison has a long and interesting history as a farming and tourist community.
Town tax records reveal that there are approximately 50 barns in Madison which are over 100 years old. The Friends of Madison Library (FOML), a 501(c)(3) non-profit supporting the local public library, has organized this weekend fundraiser (be sure to visit their website).
Barns on the tour, in addition to Joy Farm, include the Ambrose Barn built in the mid-1870s by then owner Henry Harriman with timbers from his neighbor’s barn. Nearby is the Old Public Burying Ground where several of Madison’s Revolutionary War soldiers are buried.
Ambrose Barn
The Gilman Barn built circa 1795 as a working farm has been in the Gilman family since then. Built with wooden pegs and resting on a loose field stone foundation, Alan Gilman’s barn is as “square” today as the day it was built. The large “Gilman Cemetery” across the street is the final resting place of generations of Madison residents, including the original owners of several of the Tour Barns.
The Henry Harmon place c 1850 may have been built earlier at Madison Corner, then moved by oxen to the open meadows of Goe Hill. A painting of this barn by Andrew Haines was recently on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Come to Madison to see all seven tour barns. A list of the other forty plus Madison barns over 100 years old will be available for those who want to do more independent exploring. Directions to the numerous fascinating local cemeteries may lead you to find the resting places of former barn owners, or ancestors of your own. Pick up a copy of Mary Lucy’s book Cemeteries and Graveyards of Madison, NH from the Madison Historical Society. Browse the Barn themed Art Show, purchase barn note cards and photo sketches, or place a bid on a photo or professional work of art in oil or watercolor at our Silent Auction.
Gilman Barn
Don’t miss barn historian Bob Cottrell’s talk and discussion of 18th and 19th century New England Barns on Friday night at the Madison Library. Bob has a Master’s Degree from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. He has worked in the history/museum field since 1980. Previously, Bob worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., the Crowley Museum and Nature Center in Sarasota, Florida, the St. Petersburg Historical Museum also in Florida, the Conner Prairie Museum in Indiana and at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. In 1996 he became the founding Director of the Remick Country Doctor Museum and Farm in Tamworth, New Hampshire, another great place to visit while you are here. Bob’s talk is included in the price of the Barn Tour.
At the southern end of the Mount Washington Valley, the village of Madison is just minutes away from numerous hotels, picturesque B&Bs, wonderful restaurants and the tranquility of our natural setting around Silver Lake. Make plans now to spend a day or two before or after the Barn Tour. Bring a blanket and buy a Barn Tour Bag Lunch to enjoy at one of our Town Beaches or in the garden at the Library.
Tickets on the weekend of the Tour will be $20 per person. Advanced tickets may be purchased before July 1, 2014 for $15 per person, payable by check to Friends of Madison Library at PO Box 240, Madison, NH 03849.
All proceeds of Barn Tour events benefit the non-profit Friends of Madison Library. For more information send an email to FOMLibrary.NH@gmail.com
Read MoreBucks County Community College Sets Rural Stage for NBA’s 2014 Winter Meeting!
**Our 2014 Winter Meeting was canceled due to inclement weather, but the NBA is trying to partner with BCCC once again in 2015! This time around, the meeting will take place on February 21-22, 2015.
This guest post comes from Patricia Fisher-Olsen, Coordinator of the Historic Preservation Program and lecturer at Bucks County Community College (BCCC) in eastern Pennsylvania. This year BCCC has agreed to host the NBA’s Winter Meeting at their 200-acre Newtown campus where several of the school’s NRHP-listed buildings have been re-adapted to serve as classrooms – enhancing the learning environment for all its visitors! From 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, Saturday, February 15th, the NBA’s Winter Meeting is open to the public. We encourage any barn enthusiasts in the vicinity to join us as we learn more about barns in the region and what all the students at BCCC are doing to save them! The lecturers are free though small donations to help cover the cost of lunch are welcome.
In 1991, BCCC became the first school in the country to offer a 24-credit Certificate Program in Historic Preservation and since then the campus program has grown and expanded online, offering students the unique opportunity to complete their Historic Preservation Certificate entirely over the Internet. Students opting to take courses on our Newtown campus will find them immersed in a working preservation laboratory. Classes and lectures are taught in buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, surrounded by historic landscapes and formal gardens. Students opting to take courses through our online campus will find themselves immersed in the preservation laboratory of their own communities. The online courses are designed to leverage the historic resources in all areas of the country.
BCCC Students at Work Documenting Best Barn.
In 2008, Bucks students won the coveted National Parks Service/American Institute of Architects’ Charles E. Peterson Prize, which annually recognizes the best set of measured drawings prepared to Historic American Building Survey (HABS) standards by college or university students. At BCCC, the HABS program operates as part of the institution’s Historic Preservation Department. The program offers students the opportunity to measure and record the architectural details of historic structures as they exist today, before they are further altered by time, nature and people. By studying clues, such as the changes in mortar and other materials applied to a structure, HABS students document both a building’s history and the history of the people who made the changes.
Since 1991, Bucks County Community College faculty member, Kathryn Auerbach, has led several teams of HABS students as they measured and documented historic structures here in Bucks County and across the country. The recorded findings of the students, many of whom have no previous architectural or building experience, have become part of the collection at the Library of Congress to be used for future research. The college competes for the best architectural measured drawings of a historic American structure in the Charles E. Peterson HABS Prize Competition sponsored by the National Park Service, the American Institute of Architects and the Library of Congress.
Measured Drawing of Best Farm Stone Barn, Frederick, MD (BCCC 2008).
The yearly contest is highly competitive, with entries from architecture and design programs at nationally recognized universities. Several of BCCC subsequent HABS classes have gone on to secure a Honorable Mention, 4th place, 3rd place and even 1st place in the competition. In 2008, BCCC – the only community college entrant – won a highly coveted 1st place award for their work with the National Park Service on the Best Farm Stone Barn, located on the Monocacy Battlefield in Frederick, Maryland.
In Bucks County during the 1930’s, many of the HABS projects involved old stone barns that were very prevalent in this part of the country. Today, thirty percent of the barns that were documented no longer exist. Without the HABS sets of measured drawings and photographs, no evidence would exist of some of Bucks County’s beautiful stone barns, nor of the people who built and used them.
Students who participate in the HABS class at BCCC not only learn about historic architecture but also develop important problem-solving skills. Many of our HABS drawings will be on display during the National Barn Alliance Winter Meeting.
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About The Barn Journal
NBA’s blog, The Barn Journal, is named in honor of the work of Past President, Charles Leik, and the website he started in 1996. Charles communicated with a number of barn owners around the country and compiled their stories for all to enjoy. The site continues to feature a number of topics related to saving old barns and is known to many in the preservation community as a valuable resource.