Seven barns and their owners were awarded the “Barn of the Year” designation for 2023 at the Michigan Barn Preservation Network’s annual conference on March 4 in East Lansing. Their profiles are featured below.
Also visit the Barn of the Year slide show displaying pictures of the 18 nominated barns — BEFORE, DURING and AFTER their transformation.
Ebers Family Barn
Location: Comstock Park, MI (Kent County)
Owners: Ebers LLP
Applicant: John Ebers
Distinguishing Features: 70 x 54, gable, shingled roof, fieldstone foundation. Very distinct cupola, hay rail & fork system
Year Built: 1883
Category: Continuing Agriculture – Family
Use: Farming, family weddings and gatherings
Pond House Farm Barn
Location: Manton, MI (Wexford County)
Owners: Jim & Theresa Williams
Distinguishing Features: Horizontal tongue & groove siding, 3 bay loft, floor joists from 8 round trees
Year Built: 1910 (store and chicken wing added later)
Category: Continuing Agriculture – Commercial
Use: Since 2003 has been a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm where produce is sold to customers who purchase a membership.
Maple Woods Farm Barn
Location: Farmington Hills, MI (Oakland County)
Owners: Lee & Floy Barthel
Applicant: Earl Baxtresser
Distinguishing Features: Two gambrel-roofed barns connected by a gable-roof barn. Board & batten construction—all painted white with shingled roofs; Ventilators atop the two end barns.
Year Built: 1916
Category: Adaptive Use – Family
Use: Originally a dairy operation, then a headquarters for a concrete construction company, it now houses the family’s “classic car” collection, a badminton court and scale-model train layout.
Pawlusiak Barn
Location: Clinton, MI (Washtenaw County)
Owners: Robert & Lois Pawlusiak
Contractor: D & B Movers
Distinguishing Features: Italianate ornamentation, overhanging eaves, decorative corbels and tall rounded windows.
Year Built: 1885
Category: Adaptive Use – Family
Use: Horse barn converted to a cottage with bedrooms in the loft.
Murphy Barn
Location: Rochester Hills, MI (Oakland County)
Owners: Keith & Kelly Murphy
Contractor: Joe Churches of K & L Construction
Distinguishing Features: 30’ x 40’ gambrel-roofed barn built of logs and hand-hewn timber. Lean-to roof. Fieldstone applied to cement block foundation.
Year Built: 1892
Category: Adaptive Use – Family
Use: Family gathering place for celebrations and hosting events.
Barn 1888
Location: Hopkins, MI (Allegan County)
Owners: Bryan & Danielle Howarth
Distinguishing Features: 68’ x 36’ gambrel bank barn retains much of its “historic fabric,” including the original milk house, cow stanchions in the basement, silo butting up close to the barn, original hand-hewn 10” x 10” beams, original barn wood on interior, original hay trolley.
Year Built: 1888
Category: Adaptive Use – Commercial
Use: Wedding and event venue
Unruh Barn
Location: Meridian Historical Village in Okemos, MI (Ingham County)
Owner: Meridian Charter Township
Applicant: Brad Brogren, President, Friends of Historic Meridian
Distinguishing Features: 42’ x 24’ gable roof, timber frame barn moved to township historical village in 1991.
Year Built: 1870s
Category: Adaptive Use – Non-profit
Use: Museum and public event space. School children visit to learn about early farm life.
Great Michigan Barns
All 18 submissions for 2023 Barn of the Year have been designated “Great Michigan Barns.”
CONTINUING AGRICULTURE – Family
Trails End Barn, Kalkaska (Kalkaska County)
Loudenslager Barn, Burr Oak (Kent County)
*Ebers Family Barn, Comstock Park (Kent County)
CONTINUING AGRICULTURE – Commercial
*Pond House Farm Barn, Manton (Wexford County)
Burs Wagon Shed, Cheboygan (Cheboygan County)
ADAPTIVE USE – Family
Meadowbrook Barn, Rockford (Kent County)
*Pawlusiak Barn, Clinton (Washtenaw County)
*Maple Woods Farm Barn, Farmington Hills (Oakland)
Stout Street Barn, Grosse Ile (Wayne County)
Banjolina Barn, Monroe (Monroe County)
ADAPTIVE USE – Commercial
*Murphy Barn, Rochester Hills (Oakland)
*Barn 1888, Hopkins (Allegan County)
Hidden Vineyard, Berrien Springs (Berrien County)
The Large Barn at Frugthaven Farm, Greenville (Montcalm County)
Vale Royal Barn, Fenton (Livingston County)
Garden View, Byron Center (Kent County)
Michigan Bee Barn, Comstock Park (Kent County)
Serenity Barn, Iron River (Iron County)
*Unruh Barn, Okemos (Ingham County)
*2023 Barn of the Year