Marcinkoski

History

This barn was built in 1939 by the Marcinkoski brothers: Ludwig, Edward, and William. The barn was built before the house or anything else in the yard. It is possible that Arch Sather helped with construction of the barn as well because he was a neighbour and helped build the Marcinkoski’s first house.

Ludwig Marcinkoski owned the land this barn stands on and used the barn for mixed livestock. He had horses in the early days for completing farm work but also had pigs, chickens, milk cows, and beef cattle. Specific pens and stalls were built to accommodate their needs. Additionally, there used to be stanchions in the shed addition for milking cows. Ken Marcinkoski, Ludwig and Lousie’s son, remembers sleeping in the loft of the barn with the thrashing crew during harvest. As well, Ken vividly remembers cutting his lip on the ladder to the loft when he was 4-years-old. At the time, it hurt terribly and the memory stuck.

In 1981, Jim and Irene Marcinkoski came to the land to live with Jim’s parents, Ludwig and Louise Marcinkoski. Jim and Irene used the barn for sheep and, when they had their own children, for 4-H calves. The family still uses the barn for calving their cows.

This barn is interesting because it was built in 1939 and has an arched roof created using thin stacked lumber. Most arched roofs with glued-laminated timbers aren’t seen until the late 1950s/early 1960s. Before this, a few arched-roofed barns were built in this area using special patterns and cut wood – an example is the Kuefler Barn. The Marcinkoski barn is the oldest arched-roof barn created using thin stacked lumber – very similar to glued-laminated timbers – in this database. It was built using frame construction, specifically balloon framing.

Marcinkoski, Irene. Personal communication. 24 Jul. 2017.

Marcinkoski, Ken. Personal communication. 28 Jul. 2017.

This frame is of the western face of the barn. Notice the hay hood in the peak of the barn’s roof. This is decorative as there is no hay carrier or hay track in this barn. Additionally, in this frame you can see the field stones which make up the foundation of the barn. This barn does not have any cement in its foundation, making it susceptible to quicker degradation.

This frame is of the southern side of the barn. Notice the single wooden cupola on the roof of the barn.

This frame is of the southern side and eastern face of the barn. The layout of the eastern face of the barn is very similar to the western face: two square windows, one bale door, and one sliding entry door.

This frame is of the eastern side and part of the northern half of the barn’s roof. You can see the shed addition much more clearly in this frame.

This frame is of the northern side of the barn.

This frame is a close-up of the barn’s cupola. Notice the lightning rod on top of the wooden cupola.

This frame shows the stalls on the southern half of the barn. Some of the barn’s timbers have been damaged by rain; however, Irene Marcinkoski plans to tin the roof of the barn soon.

This frame shows one of the stalls on the southern half of the barn.

This frame shows the east-west walk-way and the door on the western face of the barn.

A close-up of the inside of the western barn door.

This frame shows the stall in the north-eastern corner of the barn.

This frame shows the stalls on the northern half of the barn.

This frame shows the remaining stalls on the northern side of the barn. Notice the door to the northern shed addition in the background of the frame.

This frame shows the inside of the shed addition. The wall in the background of this frame is the eastern face of the shed addition.

This frame shows the space between the shed addition and the loft of the barn.

This frame shows the eastern face of the barn inside the loft.

This frame shows the posts which hold up the roof’s peak. Arched roofs need something to stop the roof from sagging with gravity. This barn uses posts but it is also common to install braces in the peak of the roof.

This arched roof is unique because it was built much earlier than many other arched roofs in the area. It was built in 1939, making it the oldest arched roof in this database.