Six Years Ago I Wrote a Short Bio for FOB Which Was the Following: My Father Was a Small

Dan Troth

Six years ago I wrote a short bio for FOB which was the following: My father was a small town lawyer with a lot of farmers for clients. He used to take a carload of neighborhood boys every weekend to someone’s farm where we always ended up building forts in the barns’ haymows. That’s where I probably fell in love with barns, although I didn’t know it then. But we all know that what you experience as a child often is a determinant factor in who you eventually become. After years of building great forts and tree houses I landed in New Hampshire, where I helped frame new houses, then to New York City to try the acting thing for ten years. Helped do some remodeling there before meeting my wife who was in college. We came back to Ohio so she could teach middle school language arts and I could build barn homes with two architect friends. We started Rebarn in Akron but only one family wanted us to build them a barn home. The idea was big on the East Coast but not hear in the Midwest. So, I built custom homes and over the years embraced the concept of energy efficiency and have been building green homes ever since. I hate paying high utility bills. Whenever possible, I like to incorporate antique timber frames into these new homes and happen to live in an old barn (which had been built in 1828) that I moved to Delaware from Waynesville in 1998. I have loved what I have learned over the 28 years I have been a member of the Timber Framers Guild and love being on the board of Friends of Ohio Barns. Honestly, if I had my druthers, I’d just drive all over the countryside talking to people and exploring and photographing their barns. That’s my short answer to a bio request. That was 2010.

In these last six years I’ve seen a lot more barns. I’ve also witnessed a new appreciation over all things barns and have seen barn beams, barn siding, barn flooring and barn wood furniture in every magazine I lay my hands on. Barns are now loved and in demand! But this demand has come at a cost with many getting into the business. I recently came across one Ohio company that has many crews scouring the countryside for good barns and is tearing down about three barns a week! Those barns are not being re-purposed but rather cut up and sold for their valuable wood in every state in the Union where they DON’T have barns. They’re after the elephants’ tusks. We’re trying to save the elephants. FOB has worked hard over its life to open the publics’ eyes to the beauty and significance of Ohio’s historic barns and the threats they face. Promoting stewardship and the preservation of our barns is our calling. Knowing we did our best will help build a lasting legacy for which we can all be proud.