Saturday, November 12, 2005

oxblood red



This small barn is probably all that's left standing of a farmstead and was probably used as a utility or equpment storage shed. It stands at the edge of 250 acres of cornfield, which in itself is unusual. Most barns and outbuilding stand cozied up to the farmhouse, creating a small farm compound.

This small building is in very good condition and sports a coat of deeply red oxblood paint, the color of dark penny loafers. Barns in this area are painted white (mostly with green trim), a brighter barn red and even one farmstead that has a barn and three other buildings painted a shade of pinky mauve. My guess is that the farmer had some red paint and white and mixed it all together to get the job done. The older barns have lost all hint of paint except for under the protected eaves, and they shimmer the pearly grey of weathered barn wood.

They are all in various states of disrepair. One beautiful small barn imploded into a heap, with ends upturned to the sky. A storm blew through a week ago and it collapsed.

4 comments:

srp said...

I just love the red barns. Grandpa's may have had paint at one time, but I remember the "weathered wood" look and the spaces between the planks that let small slits of light though into the darkness inside.

Anonymous said...

It looks as though an old boxcar was pressed into service to add on to the barn.

R.Powers said...

What's the purpose of the addition at the very top of the barn?

Suzanne said...

After I looked at this photo again I'd had to say it's probably an old corn crib. There was a mechanical pulley system that raised the corn up and dumped it into the crib. The pulley and bucket system continued up above the roofline and thus these little bump-outs to accomodate the machinery. I think there's an old corn crib I can get into to photograph from the inside up.