This is a Fancy Dutch Hex Barn (as the tourist industry
calls it).
Notice the overhang or porch in front (with a
tractor and manure spreader parked on it). This was called the
"vorbau." You could walk animals up there when it was raining and
tend to them before placing them in a stall in the barn. On the
back of the barn, there is a bank of earth leading right up to the
second floor like a ramp. In my novel, I described such a barn in
detail, e.g. "Peach was in a stall pouring feed in a little hopper for
the occupant. The framing of the stall, like the frames around
all doors and windows in the barn, was worn smooth, edges rounded,
burnished by thousands of touches from man and beast, knots and grains
emphasized by a varnish of body oils," (from The Other Side of the Middle: A
Pennsylvania Dutch Story of Family Love). Read more about
Hex Signs here.

Back to Plain or Fancy
Antique Farm Equipment of the Dutch