Western American Barns: Architectural Form and Climatic Considerations

Western American Barns: Architectural Form and Climatic Considerations Richard V. Francaviglia* Barns are important cultural features of rural America. The term barn in the United States and elsewhere designates any one of several types of buildings which differ greatly in architecture and in function. Comparison of a large Pennsylvania Dutch type and a New England connecting barn emphasizes some of these differences. Western United States is rich in barn types, most of which apparenüy originated in eastern states and which have been modified to meet the needs of western farmers and ranchers. This is particularly applicable to the barn types to which tiiis study is limited, i.e., roofed and walled structures serving at least a dual function of hay storage and animal shelter. A large number of barn types may be found in a relatively small area. In Washington's Puget Sound area a huge unpainted gambrelroof barn, a white round roof barn, and a red barn with a simple gable roof may be observed in close proximity. Nevertheless itappears that types of barns have rather specific distributions which contribute to the character of places. For example, simple gable-roofed, weather beaten barns of Utah with open or uncovered haylofts are strikingly different from the tall barns of western Oregon, many of which have elaborately protected haylofts and steeply pitched gambrel roofs. A series of impressionistic patterns based upon architectural form, colors, locations, and specifics of siting of barns emerged after extensive travel in the west.1 The personality of a structure relates ß Dr. Francaviglia is an assistant professor of geography at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455. This paper was first presented at the 1970 meeting of the Association at Santa Cruz. 153 154ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS to all these factors. Certain elements such as roof lines and loft cover types are important and characteristic enough to be usable as classification elements (Figure 1).2 Six main roof types in this specific regional classification system range from the simple gable roof (1), gently sloping three-bay wide roof (2), broken angle roof (3), clerestory (4), gambrel (5), and round roof (6). Roof types are easily identified by the form of the gable end. The second part of the classification system, the characteristic of loft protection—often called a hay hood, hay bonnet, or hay gableis also related to the roof line of the barn (Figure 1). The simplest type (a) has no hay hood. OÜier forms (b, c, d) offer increasing degrees of protection from rain. The epitome of protection is achieved in type (e) which access to the loft is gained only from the bottom of the hay bonnet. By combination of roof types and hay hoods shown in Figure 1, thirty distinct combinations result. Almost every possible combination can be found somewhere in the west, but of all the possible combinations , five in particular are discussed here: the intermontane barn, western barn, western Willamette barn, gambrel-roofed barn, and the round-roofed barn. What follows is a study of five western barn types, a brief discussion of forms, some rough generalizations about distributions and relationships to the physical and cultural settings in which they occur. The simplest barn, type la, herein called the intermontane barn (Figure 2), is a rectangular structure witii simple gable roof and no hay hood, the hay trolley projecting outward on the uncovered ridge pole. Some variants have no hay loft door. This type is found throughout the intermontane west and is truly dominant in Utah. This is one of the oldest general purpose barn types in the west.3 It was devel1 Field reconnaissance and an investigation of aerial photographs supplied much of the data here. General patterns, not specific details of location, are discussed. Much of what follows is based on impressions. 2 Other elements such as location and type of doors and windows, type of ventilation, and size and proportion of structure, etc. could have been used. Only roof and loft types were considered here. 3 Ages of barns were determined by discussions with farmers, by consulting old photographs of farms, and by an analysis of plan and pattern books on barn architecture. YEARBOOK · VOLUME 34...