Island Barn Mystery: Part 4 of 4
by Everyday Lillie Continued from Part 3: Ice Harvest Method Why Our Little Bay? Our island is in a large sandy bottomed bay with depths of about 10 to 20 feet in the area. We were trying to understand why our location would have suited ice harvesting – as it is not near any large […]
Island Barn Mystery: Part 3
by Everyday Lillie Continued from Part 2: Ontario’s Ice Trade Ice Harvest Method The process of ice harvesting involved cutting large blocks of ice from the frozen surface of the lake and transporting them to storage facilities, where they would be packed in sawdust to keep them from melting. The blocks of ice were then […]
Island Barn Mystery: Part 1
by Everyday Lillie. (Editor’s note: During this hot spell, I thought it may be perfect timing to share Lillie’s story….) Our island cottage is located in a bay dotted with many other small islands in a large lake in Ontario’s near north. We were confused by the existence of a small old barn on the property. It […]
If These Barns Could Speak: Part 1
by Shonna Giles, Member of Ontario Barn Preservation. If the old barns could speak and tell stories, what would they say? I am writing a book about the colourful and diverse rural history of Ontario. These stories are heartwarming, powerful, some sad, but mostly inspirational; stories that have shaped the landscape of our present day […]
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 architecture based upon imported technology that adapted to the Canadian climate slowly over the 135 years since Champlain’s first barn in the early 17th century, replacing thatch roofs with cedar shingles on half timber barns […]
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 objective of Part 1 of this article is to review the early development of French inspired barns in the neighbouring province of Quebec and their implications for […]
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 to build a scale model old barn for OBP to display at events. In the second blog of this series, I described the challenges […]
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 model barn we displayed at our booth, John volunteered to build us a really detailed barn. John did not grow up […]
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. This event hosts tens of thousands of farmers from across Canada. OBP had a modest display with two six foot long tables […]
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 wind events becoming increasing frequent and often threatening Ontario’s historic barns. If you have any barn stories, images or information you believe would be […]