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Can you say
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Round Barn |
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Indoor Arena |
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Outdoor Arena, Round Pen, and Pastures |
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Very Cool Photo at Bottom of Page |
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Click Here for Virtual Tour |
Did
you know that George Washington had a round barn? So did many of
the European settlers in the mid-west who thought that the devil dwelled
in corners. Well, our 12-sided round barn (a dodecahedron) is an attempt to put a softer front on our arena. The stalls in this round barn fan out from a center pavilion like pieces of a pie. At the center of this pie is a circular staircase that goes up through the second floor (where we store hay, bedding, and grain) and upwards to our 12-sided cupola where you can sit and enjoy a cigar-friendly 360º view of the entire property.
The barn has eight stalls (so four of the 12 "slices" serve other purposes -- one is the entrance, one is a wash stall, one is a tack room, and one is the start of the aisle going from the stalls into the indoor arena) .
Each
stall has two doors -- one that slides to the side and lets the horse
into the center of the round barn, while the other one is a Dutch door
that lets the horse stick his head out or walk out into a dry paddock
if both halves are open.
Hay, grain, and bedding are all dropped down into the stalls from the second floor for ease and safety. A 30' diameter circle made out of brick pavers creates a spacious feeling at the horse stall level, and there is a heated wash rack, a heated and air-conditioned tack area, an observation room, and a bathroom. It's really neat!
Theresa designed the barn. Primary credit for the workmanship belongs to our builder, Timothy O'Neil of O'Neil Construction (517-521-4929) and our architect, Charles T. Skinner (517-546-1395). The main builder on-site was Jerry, who also built our red storage barn when he was working for Tim and his Dad, Gary, in 1993.
We'd be happy to send you copies of the 20-page barn plans for (just!) $750.00 so that you can get ideas for your own round barn. A tour is included in the price. Just e-mail us for details. (Theresa is not happy that her husband has included this crass paragraph on our website!)
Our
indoor arena is 72' x 167' with Fibar (engineered woodchip) footing.
Fibar is a very responsive company and we've found that they provide outstanding
customer service. (You can go to their website at www.fibar.com.)
The
part of the arena in which you ride your horse "floats" inside
the total arena. By that we mean that there are 12' foot unobstructed
aisles on both sides of the riding arena, plus a 30' aisle in back.
This outside aisle space allowed us to put in lots of windows and doors
on the walls of the arena without endangering the horses or riders riding
inside. Having so many windows and doors provides for great natural
light and ventilation. Add to this a great lighting system and we
think that you'll find the arena to be one of the most pleasurable places
in which you've ever ridden a horse indoors.
The trusses in the arena are peaked in the center rather than running straight across.
Connected
to the arena is an observation room. It looks out into the arena
and provides a warm (in the winter) or cool (in the summer) place to watch
what's going on. In the observation room is a kitchenette, a soda
machine, and washer and dryer for use by our boarders.
Above the observation area is an apartment that sleeps 10 (if you're ten) and provides a wonderful view of the arena.
Surrounding the round barn is a dry paddock which can be handy if a horse is not supposed to eat grass. Nearby is a 60' diameter round pen, three outdoor arenas, and about 10 acres of green paddocks. The entire area is fenced with classic horse fencing (slabbed posts, four rail fence with vertical face boards on the posts for trim).
Nelson® waterers keep a fresh supply of water to all paddocks. These waterers are heated for the winter.
Finally, there is a over 100 acres to ride on (unless the farmer has a crop growing) and about 10 acres of woods to ride in.
You will love this property! Please visit us to see why! (Oh, and don't forget the part about buying the barn plans for only $750 -- a great deal for probably two, maybe three people in the world. (Let's see, $750 x 2 equals . . . .)
