Want to travel the countryside and see Michigan barns up close? Join up with the Michigan Barn Preservation Network for a day of touring with fellow barn enthusiasts and visit with owners at the featured sites.

You’ll learn about barn styles and architecture, timber framing and other traditional construction methods as we explore the current use of old barns and the potential for saving or repurposing old structures.

And if you are wondering how to fix up your barn, you can get plenty of ideas on our barn tours. Many old barns have the same problem areas and you can talk to builders, preservationists and barn owners who have solved these problems.

Stay tuned for news of our next tour.

2019 Spring Barn Tour – Washtenaw County

In keeping with the theme of the 2019 MBPN Conference, this year’s spring barn tour focused on finding resolutions for valued structures. Discussion centered on the plight of old barns and what we can do for their preservation.

Chuck Bultman, Ann Arbor-based architect and barn preservationist, guided the tour and lectured at each site. He selected barns in the Ann Arbor-Dexter area that tell the story of the early wood barns built in the county.

The six barns on the tour represented a cross-section of timber-frame buildings that have been or hopefully will be repaired / restored / reused — some for agricultural use and some for uses that were not envisioned by the original builder.

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