Any experts on houses and barns?

[Scotty017]

I suppose it is probably very difficult to tell from a few photos. But just in case, I wanted to see if there are any experts out there on house and barn architecture. I came across this building while tracking down the location of an ancestor's farm. To my eye, it looked odd to have a barn style roof on a building with so many house style windows. This made me wonder if this could have been a house at one point that was later converted to a barn. It did seem to me that at least one the sliding doors on the side was added later. Would it be at all possible to tell from these photos? Does anyone with knowledge of 19th or early 20th century farm buildings have any thoughts on this? There is also a very large barn down the hill that looks to fairly old. But I don't have any really good photos of it.

[CompanyWag]

Re: Any experts on houses and barns?

I'm not an expert or anything like it, but an enthusiastic student of period architecture. I also own a Midwestern farm whose buildings span the years from 1845 up to the early 20th century.

The building shown in your photos looks to be c1890-1910 or so. It doesn't appear to have ever been a dwelling house, but probably an equipment shed of some sort. The gambrel roof barns are not Civil War period, but tend to be much later. The siding and windows are almost an exact match to a milk house that is attached to our barn. The barn on our property was originally built in around 1860, was enlarged in the 1890s when a gambrel roof was installed replacing the earlier single-pitch roof. Not entirely certain when the milk house was added...but certainly well after the Civil War when many Wisconsin farmers shifted to dairy production.

[Scotty017]

Re: Any experts on houses and barns?

I'm not an expert or anything like it, but an enthusiastic student of period architecture. I also own a Midwestern farm whose buildings span the years from 1845 up to the early 20th century.

The building shown in your photos looks to be c1890-1910 or so. It doesn't appear to have ever been a dwelling house, but probably an equipment shed of some sort. The gambrel roof barns are not Civil War period, but tend to be much later. The siding and windows are almost an exact match to a milk house that is attached to our barn. The barn on our property was originally built in around 1860, was enlarged in the 1890s when a gambrel roof was installed replacing the earlier single-pitch roof. Not entirely certain when the milk house was added...but certainly well after the Civil War when many Wisconsin farmers shifted to dairy production.

Thanks. That's exactly what I was looking for. I think your analysis is right on. I checked the plats for the township and found that the farmhouse was located in that area around 1890. Previously, the ancestors I was tracking lived a few hundred yards to the northeast. So I'm going to conclude this building is unrelated to their time living there. It was probably added when the subsequent owners built around 1890.

[CompanyWag]

Re: Any experts on houses and barns?

Glad I could be helpful. Here's the barn on our property, parts of which date back to the 1860s. The original owner served as a First Sergeant in the 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery during the war (this is his wartime home). Dates and names are neatly carved into the limestone foundation. The interior framing is pretty complete with mortice and tenon joints with draw pins. The small white building on the left is the milk house addition.

[Mississippian]

Re: Any experts on houses and barns?

I suggest looking at Rowan Oak in Oxford MS, which is most famous for once being the home of William Faulkner. One of the barns on site dates from the 1840's and used as a home while the main house was being built and later converted to a barn.

Will MacDonald

[Douglas Towne]

Re: Any experts on houses and barns?

I have nothing to add to this discussion other than to say, "Thank you" for sharing the pictures of the barn in different seasons. Those are just two really cool pictures!

Douglas Towne
In the field, near the intersection of the East Tennesee/Georgia and East Tennessee/Virginia rail lines