Blogs

Discover stories, insights, and technical know-how from barn owners, preservationists, and OBP experts dedicated to keeping Ontario’s barns standing tall.

All things Ontario Barns

Remembering Jenny Phillips

by Laura Brown, OBP Administrative Assistant and Volunteer Jenny Phillips, previously our Regional Representative for Middlesex, Elgin, Chatham Kent, Essex and Lambton, passed away on January 18...

Documenting the Loss of Old Barns in Sombra Township

Posted by Darrell Randell, OBP Member and Regional Representative A long-time volunteer at the Sombra Township Museum, the late Charlie Grant, undertook a project to photograph every barn within the...

Worked at Well: The Stable Pump

by D. B. McCowan, P.Eng. (bmccowan@netrover.com) An old wooden pump sitting in Bill McCowan’s (1923-2018) barn in Pickering probably came from the Robert McCowan (1855-1931) farm on Kingston...

Traditional Barns in Quebec: Part 2 of 2

by Arthur Plumpton, member of OBP The genesis of nineteenth century traditional barns Part 1 looked at the traditional agricultural...

Traditional Barns in Quebec: Part 1 of 2

by Arthur Plumpton, member of OBP You may have wondered about the architectural similarities and differences amongst heritage barns in Canada and the perspectives for their preservation The...

The Old Barn Model: The Final Product (Part 3 of 3)

by Hugh Fraser, OBP President for 2023-2024 In the first blog of this series, I described my serendipitous meeting with John Ness at Canada’s Outdoor Farm ShowTM in September 2022. He volunteered...

The Old Barn Model: The Swing Beam Barn and Its Challenges (Part 2 of 3)

by Hugh Fraser, OBP President for 2023-2024 In the first blog of this series, I described my serendipitous meeting with John Ness at the Outdoor Farm Show in September 2022. After studying a scale...

The Old Barn Model: A Serendipitous Encounter (Part 1 of 3)

by Hugh Fraser, OBP President for 2023-2024 In September 2022, I worked three days on behalf of Ontario Barn Preservation at our inaugural display at the Outdoor Farm ShowTM, just west of Woodstock...

How to Build a Windproof Barn in 1935

Thanks to OBP’s Administrative Assistant Laura Brown for finding this amazing article in American Builder, August issue of 1935! This seems like a very appropriate topic these days with more severe...

The Sad Remains of a Barn in Southern Ontario

by Laura Brown, OBP Member and Our Stellar Volunteer Hello, my name is Laura Brown. I took these photos of an old barn in ruins, and more of the old farmhouse. I began photographing old buildings more...

Surplus Farm dwelling Severance Policy & how it has affected Ontario Barns

A letter to Ontario Municipalities This is a follow up to our research into surplus farm dwellings and how it has affected Barn on Ontario. We spent many hours chasing leads, calling municipalities...

Pintles in Many Places

by Claudia Smith, OBP Secretary (expanding upon Wagon Door Hardware, published Feb. 6 2023) More Pintle Hinging Around the Farm The wide wagon doors into barn threshing floors were the width of a team...