About the barns…

Boyd and Sandy are talking about barns on Friday....

I asked Boyd Pratt when his “Barn talk” was and was happy to see it’s tomorrow – here’s more about what he & Sandy Strelou have going on:

The 100 Friends of Old Island Barns has an exhibit on the Barns of San Juan County at the Agricultural Tent at the San Juan County Fair. On Friday, August 14th at 2:45 p.m., Project Coordinator Sandy Strehlou and Architectural Historian Boyd Pratt will talk on the 100 Friends’ survey of our county’s historic barns.  Chris Moore, Field Director for the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, will give an introduction to the Washington Heritage Barn Register and talk about a grant program for barn restoration. Applications for funding through the next round of grants are due in late September. The 100 Friends are interested in helping interested barn owners to register their barns and apply for funding.

For more information on the San Juan County Historic Barn Inventory or the 100 Friends of Old Island Barns, call Strehlou at 378-8337 or Pratt at 378-7172 ([email protected]).
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HISTORIC BARNS OF SAN JUAN COUNTY

They often stand alone and abandoned, rising above the agricultural fields they used to serve.  Many are in dire need of repair, while others have been carefully restored by diligent owners.  Each is part of a familiar landscape etched deep into memory.

Islanders value historic barns. When barns and farmland go on the real estate market, or heavy equipment shows up on site, we keep watch, ‘ask around’, and quietly lament “why something can’t be done.”

“Many times I’ve been asked, “Isn’t there a program or grants to save old barns?” reflects the 100 Friends of Old Island Barns founder [and Town of Friday Harbor Historic Preservation Coordinator], Sandy Strehlou.  “I know a barn owner who’s been reproached by perfect strangers for not doing more to save his barn!  Finally, I decided, we need to do something before it’s too late. Let’s figure out how many barns are left, and determine what they need to keep standing.”

The San Juan Historic Barn Inventory, a project of the 100 Friends of Old Island Barns, administered through the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, is trying to do just that.  Through an initial grant from the San Juan County Historic Preservation Fund—funded by an assessment on all legal forms filed with the County and allocated through a competitive grant application process—the 100 Friends began an ambitious project to document and assess the preservation needs of the county’s historic barns.

So what makes a barn historic?  “I’d say any structure 50 years or older that was built to shelter livestock, or store feed or agricultural products” says architectural historian Boyd Pratt.  One of the interesting discoveries of the project is the diversity of island barns: dairy and sheep barns, turkey barns, fruit barns–even a barn that turned out to be a granary inside!  Red barns, white barns, or barns just gray with weathered island fir.  Barns with shed, gable, gambrel, and monitor roofs; barns built out of logs, timber frame, poles, and framed trusses—even metal barns.

And then there’s their size.  “Barns are some of the largest structures in the islands,” say Pratt.  “One of the largest I’ve measured is 131 feet long by 56 feet wide, and stands 33 feet tall.  Going inside is like entering a cathedral, with the light filtering through that lofty space.”  That is one of the reasons residents and visitors alike value island barns—they stand out in the landscape, majestic reminders of our rich agricultural past.

The County grant of $6,333 made it possible to start the survey. A $5,000 gift from an anonymous barn lover has enabled Pratt to record 44 of the currently identified 80+ structures on all four of the ferry-served islands. However, the 100 Friends say completing the survey in the next year will be difficult without additional support.

Upon learning about the project and the funding obstacles, a county resident and barn lover recently pledged a $5,000 challenge, or matching grant which, if successful, would get the 100 Friends closer to achieving their goal. The group has until August 31st to raise the matching $5,000.

The 100 Friends will present an exhibit on the barns of San Juan County at the Agricultural Tent at the San Juan County Fair. On Friday, August 14th at ?? p.m., Strehlou and Pratt will talk on the survey.  Chris Moore, Field Director for the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, will give an introduction to the Washington Heritage Barn Register and talk about a grant program for barn restoration. Applications for funding through the next round of grants are due in late September. The 100 Friends are interested in helping interested barn owners to register their barns and apply for funding.

For more information on the San Juan County Historic Barn Inventory, the 100 Friends of Old Island Barns, or the challenge grant, call Pratt at 378-7172 or email at [email protected].

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