Griswold Barn

One of the largest and most stately of any barn in Illinois, the Griswold Barn is a three level barn and is hard to label with a particular style.

This barn represents aspects of the bank style where the different levels can be accessed from ground level but also has aspects of Dutch style when focusing on the roof line. The roof itself is called a Dutch Gambrel. The two lower of the four planes curving gently to the ground. The addition of the decorative gambrel roof accent on the front of the barn only contributes to its charm. Over six hundred hours were used to replace this recognizable roof in 1999.

Simple yet elegant cupolas rise high atop the structure and several porthole windows used for ventilation are symmetrically placed under the eave on the front.

The stark white color creates quite the contrast to its surroundings.

A local contractor by the name of Clarence Crane built the barn in 1912 for a farmer named Peter J Achenbach who used it primarily for the stabling of many teams of mules that were used to work the fields.

As many as 200 mules were also pastured and kept through the Winter for the U.S. government during World War I. They were easy to spot with US Govt. branded on their heads.

There was a concrete water tank that was filled by piping the water from the house on the property and hay would have been thrown down the chute to feed the mules. The barn can store up to 3000 bales of hay.

William Griswold’s father, Ernest purchased the farm in 1945.

The Griswold Jacob’s Ladder Quilt is Sponsored by Randy Fergurson Insurance of Greenfield. A must see on the barn tour!

Griswold Barn