One of the delightful aspects of historic barns in the San Juan Islands is that you can often see them from the water.  This is true of the John Biendl Farm Barn, which is located near Broken Point on Shaw Island.  You get a passing view of it from the interisland ferry on its run between Friday Harbor and … Continue reading →

Halloween (October 31st), All Saints’ Day (November 1st), and  All Souls’ Day (November 2nd) present a great opportunity to introduce a fun feature of our website: Ghost Barns!  Many barns in the San Juan Islands have been lost to fire, storms, old age, or demolition.  To recognize these barns as gone, but not forgotten, the Ghost Barns … Continue reading →

Autumn seems to have come early this year, and many of the old orchards in the islands are bearing fruit!  That’s why this month’s featured Barn of the Month is the Hambly Apple House in Crow Valley, Orcas Island.  Built by William Hambly in 1900, this two story structure was designed to keep apples cool … Continue reading →

This month’s featured barn, built ca. 1925-26 by William Gallanger (1868-1965) and his son Bill, is one of the few remaining on Lopez that is still used for agricultural purposes. The Gallangers originally built the structure as a dairy barn, for 59 cows, which was one of the largest operations in the islands. It is currently … Continue reading →

OK, admittedly this Barn of the Month is not quite a “barn”  but it is a structure that is significant to the history of agriculture in the islands.  The Olga Strawberry Barreling Plant, located in the hamlet of Olga, was constructed in 1938 and  stands as a reminder of the once-flourishing strawberry industry on the east side of Orcas Island. Built … Continue reading →

What better example to inaugurate our Barn of the Month feature than the stunning barn at Straitsview Farm, one of the oldest structures in the San Juan Islands and beautifully restored.  The Straitsview Farm barn was built by Peter Lawson (1827-1927), a Danish sailor who came to settle on San Juan Island in 1859.  In 1863 he built … Continue reading →