Barny Red

Recently Jackie and I were driving back from a trip up to northern Michigan (it has amazing landscape, water, quaint little towns and shops – you need to go!). During our drive we kept encountering these beautiful farms, often featuring amazing red barns. Of course, our conversation led to barn design, what it must be like to live on a farm, and wondering why barns are still painted red, and of course the history of when it all started.  This of course led to Jackie laughingly knowing there was going to be a blog coming out of this conversation!  So…, after a little digging, here is some cool stuff about barns, barns design and the story behind the red color. 

Of course there’s a song about barns

The farmer’s barn had to be built wisely because it housed their greatest assets. This agricultural building was more important than their own house. Without a way to protect farm animals or store crops, early settlers had few ways to survive. The designs follow common sense, usefulness and economics…not so much style. Every new barn, therefore, was a “new and improved” version compared with past efforts—not only in construction materials and techniques, but also in orientation to the sun and prevailing winds, as well as in accessibility and general efficiency matching the type of farm.

Barns date back thousands of years, evolving alongside agriculture itself. In medieval Europe, large communal barns were used to store grains or house livestock. As settlers came to North America, they brought old-world building techniques and adapted them to the available materials and climate conditions.

Farms came to specialize in certain crops, and barns became specialized as well (dairy, fruit, grains, tobacco, poultry, etc.). What we think of as a classic barn with the gambrel roof is a dairy barn, but there were smaller barn-like structures for different types of animals or different kinds of crops. 

• Dutch Barns (1600s–1700s): One of the earliest types in the U.S., Dutch barns had broad, gabled roofs and large doors. The interior featured a center aisle and side bays—perfect for threshing grain.

• English Barns Simpler than Dutch barns, these were typically single-room structures without a basement, mainly used for grain storage and some livestock shelter.

• Bank Barns Built into the side of a hill (or “bank”), allowing access to upper and lower levels. Animals were housed below; hay and grain stored above – ideal for cold climates like the Midwest and Appalachians.

As farming became more specialized, so did barn designs. Dairy Barns are tall, well-ventilated, often with cupolas to promote airflow and prevent spoilage of hay. Tobacco Barns are found in Kentucky and North Carolina, designed with slatted walls or louvers to help with drying. Horse Barns (Stables) feature individual stalls, larger walkways, and tack rooms and Round Barns, popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were efficient, wind-resistant, and promoted circular feeding and cleaning routines. Each barn shape and feature—gable roof, gambrel roof, cupola, hay hood—was an answer to a need: easier hay loft access, better drainage, more space, or quicker animal movement.

Once sawn lumber was more easily obtainable in the early colonies, most barns were of braced frame construction, which allowed larger and more adaptable structures. Air could circulate through the cracks between the boards. Large doors provided good light. Small barns could be attached horizontally, with shed-roof additions on the sides and back.

In the early 1700s, farmers needed more room. Adding more stories provided more space under the same roof area and on the same-size foundation. Access to the barn was greatly improved if the barn could be situated on a hillside, allowing the farmer to drive in at several levels. Doors at opposite ends offered good cross-ventilation and allowed wagons to drive through. Rows of windows over the door became a popular method of letting in more light.

Brick barns became popular in the mid–19th century. Bricks were omitted in decorative patterns to let in air and light. Farmers adapted the styles to whatever construction materials were common in their area. Barns constructed of logs, stone, brick, or even cordwood were carried to a high degree of development. the influence of various cultures and nationalities showed strongly from region to region. 

The town dweller’s barn (or village barn) became large enough to accommodate only the non-farming homeowner’s transportation animals, feed, and equipment: It was the early garage. During the mid-1800s, this barn was built to resemble the homeowner’s house, featuring similarly sided board-and-batten or clapboard siding and a matching paint color.

The addition of a louvered cupola increased ventilation and added a dash of style. With electricity providing light and ventilation, internal combustion engines replacing men and animals, and mass production techniques being employed wherever possible, 

So, Why Red? Early farmers didn’t paint their barns at all. Why waste money on paint, when you can make your own coatings. By the late 1700s, farmers began to look for a way to protect their wood barns from the elements. It was a functional need, not a decor decision. Farmers made their own coatings, usually with a mix of skimmed milk, lime, and red iron oxide earth pigments, which had a red tint. This created a plastic-like coating that hardened quickly and lasted for years. Linseed oil was subsequently added to the recipe to provide the necessary soaking quality. 

Mixing the oxide into the paint protected the wood from mold and moss (which caused decay) and also resulted in a deep red color. It so happens that darker colors also absorb more of the Sun’s rays and keep buildings warmer in the wintertime. Thus, the American “barn red” was born.

In the mid- to late 1800s, paint companies started making barn paint with metallic oxides, which were formulated especially for barn use. The red paint sold at a much lower price per gallon than house paint, hence attracting the ever-so-thrifty farmer. Red was the color of favor until whitewash became cheaper, at which point white barns began to spring up.

If you are interested in painting your building “barn red,” it’s a shade of red that is 98% saturated and 49% bright. The RYB color model is composed of 48.63% red, 3.92% yellow, and 0.78% blue. Many paint manufacturers, such as Sherwin-Williams®, carry a “barn red” color. Red barns became the standard and took on symbolic meaning – the sign of a well-kept farm.

How did you do on last week’s logo contest?

Check out our logo guide for the “What Monday’s All About” post here!