Navarre barn finds new home in Texas
When reassembled, OVBS furnished and installed 6,000 square feet of reclaimed roof sheathing, hand-hewn timbers for the grand and side entrances, 14,000 square feet of 12” reclaimed siding for the finished interior and the 1870’s Gothic louvers.
Last year, a crew of men stood on a field on Hudson Avenue in Navarre, looking up at the enormous 183 year old barn they were about to dismantle. A film crew was on hand, documenting the process for the program “Restoration Road With Clint Harp,” seen on the Magnolia Network and streamed via the Discovery Channel. It was to be carefully disassembled, loaded into tractor trailers and shipped all the way to Rosharon, Texas near Houston, where it would be reconstructed as a wedding venue.
The barn was constructed sometime in the 1840s by then owner Hugh Brown. Constructed entirely of old growth white oak, the barn is an extremely large example, with room for separating dairy and crop use at opposite ends.
The marks from the builder’s hand tools are still clearly seen on the timbers, and the barn remained in well preserved condition. Where the original builders employed axes, hand saws and adze, modern crews went to work with crowbars and reciprocating saws. Where cattle once rested, revelers now dance.
The barn was dismantled and rebuilt by local company Ohio Valley Barn Salvage, owned by Randy Smith. “It took about three weeks to take the barn down,” Smith said, ‘and we actually got it put back together in nine days in Texas,”
“Lisa and Don Rouse stopped at the Navarre Bethlehem Township Historical Society in May of 2022,” said society secretary Shirley Conkle. The couple had just purchased the property and were seeking information on the history of the barn and accompanying house.
Conkle went to work and found that, among other interesting discoveries, the barn was the subject of six books written by Bob Baker, who had lived on the property as a boy and carried many fond memories of his time there.
Rather remarkably, Baker, now in his 90s, lives just a few hours from where the barn now makes its home in Texas. The Rouse family invited him to come and see the transformed barn once everything was completed.
Preserved along with the barn was a basketball hoop, installed inside the structure long ago by a previous owner.
“We drove out there to see the process of taking the barn down,” said Conkle. “We actually got to walk through both the upper and lower levels before work began. It was huge and very well kept up.” The structure still carried what appeared to be its original white oak siding, though the roof had been replaced.
The strength of the barn’s construction was confirmed by Smith and program host Clint Harp as the two friends walked the property before careful demolition began, shooting a few basketball hoops along the way, both men dwarfed by the enormous building. They agreed they had a gem to begin with, making the whole project a bit simpler.
Once in Texas, the barn became larger still, gaining a new entry and added space for event preparation. While all that beautiful oak was preserved and the old rough hewn carpenter’s marks remain, its humble origins are transformed into a luxurious place for large groups to gather and celebrate. The newly finished building covers more than 7,400 square feet, and is already booked for dozens of weddings and events.
The property in Navarre first showed up in deed records from 1810, when it was owned by the Davison family of Pennsylvania who apparently never made the move to Ohio. It finally went to a cousin, Hugh Brown, who held on to the property for 42 years before it went to the Nichols family, passing to Bob Baker’s parents in the 1930s.
See many pictures of the barn’s transformation at ohiovalleybarnsalvage.com. Smith said his company will save nine barns in 2024; the company has already saved more than 30 structures.