Yoder-Prough Round Barn

Menno and Caroline Yoder, ancestors of the current owners, purchased a 130-acre farm in 1900 and proceeded to raise their family of ten children on this very productive farm.

Menno wanted a barn that wouldn't burn, wouldn't have to be painted and would last forever: cement. He researched cement construction and reinforcement methods. Before he began, Menno gathered buggy axels and railroad irons from junkyards. These items he used to form the barn's windows and doors.

Prior to construction, the five older boys drove teams of horses pulling wagons five miles one way to gather specific high-grade gravel. The boys worked for two winters making as many trips as possible when weather permitted.

At last in 1908, the work began on the barn Menno designed. The crew was Menno and his five sons ranging in age from twelve to eighteen. It took two summers to build the twelve-sided barn. Ventilation was achieved by carefully placed 6-inch steel pipe and a windowed cupola, which no longer exists.

Soon after the barn was finished, Menno became the first person to bring Brown Swiss cattle into Indiana. The words Brown Swiss Dairy are lettered on the side of the barn.

This barn is so interesting and was fun to paint. The canvas size is 18 x 24 inches. I completed this oil painting in my studio in January 2013.

All the barn paintings are for sale.  Please contact Gwen to find out if the painting(s) you are interested in are sold or available.