Save the Date – Saturday, March 14, 2026
The all-day event for networking, learning and camaraderie will include exhibits, program speakers, a buffet lunch, a fundraising auction and the Barn of the Year awards. Stay tuned for more Information.
2026 Annual Conference Registration
To register for our 2026 Annual Conference (lunch included), please select your membership status below. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, March 14 at AgroLiquid Conference Center, 3055 W. M-21, St. Johns, Michigan 48879.
LATE RESERVATIONS: Call (989) 465-1216 or email vera@wiltse.com.
Members
Non-Members
*Note: To be eligible for the Member rate, go to our Membership page to join. Dues are $40 annually. A spouse or family member can be added to an individual membership for only $10, which would provide greater savings.
Need Accommodations Friday Night?
For those who wish to stay overnight for the conference, previous MBPN conference attendees have used Sleep Inn Dewitt-Lansing North at 1101 Commerce Park Drive, DeWitt, MI 48823. The phone number is: (517) 669-8823. It is located on the east side of old US 27, one mile north of I-69. There is also a Best Western in Dewitt.
Featured Barns
2026 Conference Agenda
8:30 Registration opens
9:00 Welcome and Announcements (coffee & donuts)
9:10 Annual Membership Meeting – Tom Irrer, MBPN president
10:15 Presentation by Bob Kovacevich: The Preservation and Evolution of a Michigan Dairy Barn into an AirBnB
11:15 Presentation by Gary Howell: Taxes and Fees—Who Needs ‘Em? – The legal and tax advantages of restoring older farm buildings
12:15 Lunch – Fun & networking, President’s Award, Annual Auction Benefit
1:30 2025 Barn of the Year Awards – Keith Anderson, Awards chair
2:15 Presentation by Patrick Ingalls: Michigan Flywheelers Museum – It’s History and Current Projects
3:15 Keynote by Rick Collins: Round and Multi-Faceted Barns in the Midwest – Includes renovation of Manhattan Round Barn in Illinois which was built in 1898 with wood salvaged from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
4:15 Wrap-up
Register Here
Conference Presenters
Bob Kovacevich and his wife Kathy are the owners and operators of The Barn House in Plainwell near Kalamazoo. The barn originally was part of a dairy farm established in 1878, and it had multiple dairy farm owners prior to Kathy acquiring it in 1992. Through a labor of love and determination, the barn was transformed into a home over the next 30 years and subsequently evolved into the Airbnb that exists today. The funds raised through the Airbnb are used entirely for preserving the natural beauty of the barn.
Gary Howell and his wife Cheryl live on their historic 400-acre farm near North Branch. The family farm partnership raises hay, beef cattle and row crops. An integral part of the farm is their restored 1878 barn, which was featured on MBPN’s Fall 2025 Barn Tour. Gary is a graduate of Michigan State University and the University of Michigan Law School. For 40 years he served as attorney for many rural townships throughout the Thumb, including 20 years as a certified tax assessor. He represented Lapeer County in Michigan House of Representative from 2016 to 2023. Currently, he serves as chairman of the Lapeer County Board of Commissioners. Drawing on his legislative and municipal law background, he can advise barn owners and preservationists on property tax and legal matters.
Patrick Ingalls is president of the Michigan Flywheelers Museum near South Haven, a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of antique gas/steam engines and tractors. Located on over 80 acres, the museum features displays of old farm machinery, a sawmill, a shingle mill along with “Olde Town” – a 1920s era community filled with businesses and agricultural themed exhibits. In 2024, MBPN recognized the Museum for restoring the 1900s-era Stephenson Barn that was donated and moved to their property. The barn now serves as the main building for exhibits, educational workshops, classes and programs as well as rental facility. The museum hosts four events every year – Farm History Day in May, the Swap Meet in June, Kids Lawn Tractor Day in July and its largest event – the Antique Engine and Tractor Show in September.
Rick Collins is recognized for his expertise in both the history and the future of timber frame building. With a commitment to the Preservation & Continuation of our built and natural heritage, his timber frame practice encompasses visionary buildings that redefine the role of wood in the built environment, as well as authentic restoration and preservation.
Rick is a structural timber expert, journeyworker timber framer, carpenter, metalworker, mechanic, educator, writer and farmer based in Illinois. In addition to his BS in Forest Science and service as a Combat Engineer in the Marine Corps, he is a self-taught scholar in the methods and tooling that were used by Europeans who settled the Midwest from the 1600s–1900s. Today Rick focuses his energy as a consultant and a subject matter expert – adding to the efficiency, and context of a project by grounding process with practicality and linking community with place.
PAST CONFERNCES
See highlights from MBPN Annual Conferences in 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020 and 2019.
2025 Conference
The 2025 Annual conference was held on March 15 at the AgroLiquid Conference Center in St. Johns. Presenters told stories about building and assembling timber frame barns and converting a dairy barn into a winery. We also heard how the tower silo got its start and became the iconic symbol of 20th-century American farmsteads.
Presenters
(L to R) Ina Hanel-Gerdenich, historic preservation consultant and architectural historian, on the history of silos in Michigan; Dr. Deron Nelson, large animal veterinarian and timber framer, on building new timber frame barns; Kathleen Adams, realtor and owner/operator of Stone House Vinyards, on adapting a barn into a winery.
For 2025 conference recap, click here.
2024 Conference
The 2024 conference focused on new uses for old barns. Several speakers told of the challenges –as well as the joys– of converting their barns into event spaces and wedding venues. Other adaptations involved dismantling and moving an old barn to a county fairgrounds and a municipality that was willed a farmstead and turned it into a museum complex. For recap, click here.