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Calvin Neff Round Barn

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1910, Calvin Neff, designer; Aaron Thomas, builder. 2519 PA 45, 2.3 miles south of Centre Hall
  • Calvin Neff Round Barn (HABS/Traub)

In 1910, farmer Calvin Neff and carpenter Aaron Thomas introduced the round plan to barn construction in Centre County. During the late nineteenth century, this type of barn appeared sporadically in the Northeast and the Midwest, where Neff was first exposed to it during a train trip in 1892. The round plan was utilized for its labor and space-saving characteristics. The barn measures 88 feet in diameter, 56 feet in height, and has an area of over 6,000 square feet. Built on a limestone foundation with board-and-batten siding on the first floor and lap siding on the second floor, the red and white barn is topped by a cedar-shingled roof with tin at the very top. Six dormer windows and a cupola cap the structure. The barn's interior has a cattle floor and a mow floor, each resting on one of three concentric sills. Radiating rafters support the roof and floor. Though no longer an active agricultural site, the round barn is a popular and enduring landmark in the rural Centre County landscape.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lu Donnelly et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Duffy's Boalsburg Tavern
Irvin House and Barn
Boal House
Ayres and Cologne Houses
Centre Furnace

Citation

Lu Donnelly et al., "Calvin Neff Round Barn", [Centre Hall, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-CE12.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 1

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Lu Donnelly, H. David Brumble IV, and Franklin Toker. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, 345-345.

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