MORTON CORNER RD, N SIDE, JUST W OF TIMBER RD

MORTON CORNER RD, N SIDE, JUST W OF TIMBER RD

Pierce

Martell

27

17

W

29

SE

SW

1914

1983

barn-centric

Astylistic Utilitarian Building

Clapboard

John Finstad

No

A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.

In 1914, Hans Nelson hired local carpenter John Finstad to build this round barn to house his dairy cows. Tornadoes had recently struck the area, and Nelson heard at the local lumberyard that round barns, although more expensive than conventional barns, were more resistant to high winds. It took special skills to build a round barn, but local lore insists that Finstad simply visited another round barn to figure out how to frame one. Finstad also built a round barn for Peter Finstad (no relation) in 1914; ironically it was destroyed in a 1980 windstorm.

Like most round barns, Nelson’s stands two stories tall with a rubble foundation. Windows ring the basement, which housed the cows. The wooden ventilator atop the barn’s conical roof looks like a hat, but it performs the important function of capping the central concrete silo. Farmers had a hard time filling these silos from the top, a factor that contributed to the declining popularity of round barns after 1920.

Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript.

Not Listed