Community Chat

[Oznell]

Do you like old barns, and look for them when driving in the countryside?  I do.   Barns are so imposing, in the way that medieval castles, are, and old churches, town halls and armorys.  Ruins of barns are as visually interesting as newer ones.

Love to think of the people who built them, especially early ones!

Barn near Moose, Wyoming--

Don't know where this one is located, but love the size, bright color against the snow, charming dormers--

More petite red barn, tranquil under the broad blue sky of East Texas--

Illinois barn--

So many of them are haunting.  Not sure, but think this one is in Alberta, Canada--

Another Wyoming barn, backed against scrubby hills.  Something about isolated barns in the northern Plains really grabs me --

The weathering here is beautiful....

The familiar gambrel roof design of barns is so pleasing...

Interiors of barns can be eerily empty, or teeming...

Would love to see a blue barn in real life, but paintings of barns have their own beauty--

Would love to know who here grew up with a barn on the property, and any memories of it to share.

[Desertdi]

I am more interested in bridges and railroad trestles!

[Teddie]

Very nice, @Oznell !  I enjoyed seeing all these barns and my memory takes me back to Grandma's farm, which was walking distance from our home. Making hay and then loading it onto the haywagon was one of the highlights of summer. I don't remember the names of everything but we had some type of motorized thing that we'd put the bales on and up it would go--up to the hayloft where someone was waiting to stack. And what fun to play up there. It was like another world. 

The barn was where the cows came in to be milked. Their bodies would warm the barn in the winter. My younger brother got kicked and had a broken leg when he was playing and ran between two cows and startled one. 

Lots of memories. Lots to share. Do you have any barns from your childhood, Oznell?

[shoekitty]

I love barns.  Here in California, they just leave them, and many are preserved. What I thought was always so interesting ,is the red barn got it color in the beginning from oxblood, or the ilk. It was handy, and in the days before available paint they painted with oxblood

[monicakm]

@Oznell 

Those Barns were fun to look at. Thank you. Our country place had a barn/stable.  I was 16 when we built that house. No stories about that barn that I can share. Before that one we had a barn on some land we almost bought but the airline was laying off Pilots at the time and Dad backed out on the purchase in case he got laid off. The top of that Barn was full of cotton with the brown part still attached ( but not the stem). My brother and I had a blast in the top of that Barn rolling around in the cotton. That was a really awesome piece of land. I wish we could have bought it but I would never have met my husband.

My husband and I have a red and tan metal A-frame Barn behind our house. The top of the barn is a loft that will someday be completed as a living space. There is a bathroom under the stairs. DH had a heart attack in 2015 and has never finished the top story. Now that he's retired that's on his to-do list, hopefully.

[JYWilliams]

I love old barns. I live in Kentucky and when I was younger you would see a lot of old barns being used to hang Tobacco. Not so much so anymore since Farm land is being sold for subdivisions.

[goldensrbest]

I have always found barns always catch my eye,something special about them.

[Oznell]

@Teddie --  making hay, and the cows coming in to be milked!  You got to be in on the quintessential barn-type activities, fab.  Even your brother unfortunately having an injury, that is something that figures a lot in the agricultural goings-on in barns.  Poor guy, hope he recovered quickly.

I've heard of so many kids pitching straight down from high hay lofts. 

@monicakm ,  can well imagine what fun it would be for you and your brother in all that cotton!  An exotic crop to me, and so beautiful, as per your picture.  How neat that you currently have a barn that will have a living space in it. Best of luck to your hubby as he resumes work on it.  

@Teddie , and @monicakm ,  thanks so much for sharing your childhood memories of barns!

@Teddie ,  to answer your question, I just got to visit them.  My much older sister was married when I was a child, and her husband's extended family had an old farm, and the barns were incredible.  Dark, moody, with sudden patches of sunlight.  Intriguing to explore. I think some of them were very old and in the process of disintegrating, b/c I don't remember animals in them or evidence of current use...

We lived in a suburban cul de sac near the edge of town, and behind our house, across a little creek with a bridge, the woods and open fields started.  I used to roam back there -- it was like finding an abandoned Eden.  Way back, a far hike from our house, I discovered an abandoned stone barn ruin.  I was hooked-- how romantic!

Thanks all for your reflections and interesting comments  about barns! 

[hayseed00]

@Oznell  Wonderful pics.  My grandparents had a big dairy farm when I was a child and I loved spending hours there petting the farm animals and seeking out all the hidden nooks and grannies in the barn.  The barn had a gambrel roof and the sides weathered with the slighest hint of red paint still on them. Even at the age of 70 I can close my eyes and still see that wonderful farm and a smile always appears on my face.

[Kalli]

Love these barn stories! I grew up in the suburbs of NJ so no barns close by. My family moved to rural PA when I was 17. I still live in the same area and there are so many lovely barns near me. 😊

I will always associate barns with horses. My dream as a kid was to have my own horse. Some dreams take a while to come true but once my younger son went off to college I started riding lessons and now have 2 horses of my own.