News

Only a tiny percentage of the approximately 3,000 barns in Washington state are round, but the 14 currently standing are a picturesque, beloved part of the region’s landscape, including one in Chehalis.

A new book written by former Washington State University architecture professor Tom Bartuska and his wife, Helen Bartuska, “Washington State’s Round Barns: Preserving a Vanishing Rural Heritage,” offers a comprehensive inventory of those rare structures, plus seven more that no longer exist. The book records who built each one and when, original and current uses, individual characteristics, construction details and anecdotes the authors learned along the way.

The round barn in Chehalis was built by Noah B. Coffman and his family in about 1902 after the family moved to Chehalis in 1883, according to Washington State University. 

Coffman established an insurance, real estate and law practice office, and eventually opened the Coffman, Dobson & Co. bank. 

“Along with his associates, he was instrumental in the early development of Chehalis,” the Bartuskas said of Coffman in their book. 

The Coffmans built the round barn, located at what is now 647 Northwest St. Helens Avenue, to house their horses, family carriage and their personal Jersey herd, according to the Bartuskas. 

“The innovative barn had three levels, which were useful for family carriages and horses at the street level with a dairy barn below relating to the farming portion of the land. The barn also has a partial hayloft mezzanine to feed the horses and dairy herd along with the silo in the center,” reads an excerpt of the book. “Special care was taken to design a barn to fit the character of the residential street. The carriage house level, now used as a garage, has a perfectly proportioned classical portal and side wings to fit in the residential character of the neighborhood. The round form allowed the carriages to circle around without having to back out.” 

The round barn in Chehalis is the only Washington barn listed as part of a National Register Historic District, according to the Bartuskas. 

The couple has been researching, visiting and photographing the Pacific Northwest’s round barns since the 1960s, shortly after Tom accepted a teaching position at Washington State University’s architecture department. 

After a 40-year teaching career, Tom is now a professor emeritus at Washington State University’s School of Architecture and Construction Management. Helen attended the University of Illinois and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and holds a bachelor’s degree in home economics, child and family studies. She received her Montessori certification from England’s St. Nicholas Montessori Training Center, and taught young children for over two decades.

“Barns — especially round barns — are unfortunately vanishing from the rural landscape, yet they have an important and fascinating tale to convey. They are beautiful icons of our country’s landscape and are an important part of our history and cultural heritage,” the Bartuskas state in the book.  

Focusing on agricultural structures over 50 years old with at least two stories, the pair eventually compiled a list of 21 buildings and made it their mission to create a comprehensive inventory.

Since most of the barns were constructed in the early 1900s, the couple explored archives to gather historic photographs and paperwork. 

When possible, they also took interior and exterior photographs and talked with owners about each structure’s story, revisiting several sites to document how the barns changed over time. In addition, the Bartuskas researched round barns’ fascinating history and development across the United States — including similarities and differences, various construction methods and designs, advantages and disadvantages, and the reasons they were built. 

“Perhaps surprisingly, one is that they were cheaper,” Washington State University stated in a news release. “Utilizing shared labor from extended family and neighbors made materials costs the largest expense. One early 1900s report calculated total materials savings for a 60-foot diameter round barn versus an equivalent sized plank-framed rectangular barn as $378.77, or 36%.”

Structures continue to succumb to economic and technological changes, as well as to fire, disrepair and the forces of nature, according to the news release.  

Seven of the documented Washington barns no longer exist, and several of the remaining 14 are in peril. 

“Hoping to inspire others to help maintain, preserve and restore these unique cultural icons, the authors added examples of successful reuse and creative conservation nationwide, along with ongoing efforts to save other types of barns, buildings and rural communities,” Washington State University states in the news release. 

Washington State’s Round Barns is 204 pages and full color throughout with many photographs. 

Sold at bookstores nationwide, direct from Basalt Books at 800-354-7360 or online at basaltbooks.wsu.edu, it is available in both hardbound at $45 and paperback at $29.95 

The trade imprint of nonprofit academic publisher Washington State University Press in Pullman, Basalt Books concentrates on general interest titles about cooking, nature, history, science and more for young children to older readers, all with a connection to the Northwest, according to the news release. 

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