Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Michigan Barn Preservation Network is seeking submissions for the 2025 Barn of the Year.

The awards are presented annually to honor barn owners who have made the extra effort to maintain or restore historic barns.

Barn of the Year Committee Chair Keith Anderson said they’re a group of barn enthusiasts whose mission is to save Michigan’s barns and they have around 300 active members. While they don’t have funding available, he said they do try to inspire people to save their barns by providing them with technical support and information.

Anderson told WHMI Michigan has a long history of family farms, and each one had a farmhouse and a barn for livestock and storage of hay. Unfortunately, he says culture has changed and barns are disappearing at an alarming rate. He noted the use for barns for which they were built for 100-150 years ago are no longer useful and too many have been left in neglect and are falling down.

Anderson said “These barns are irreplaceable…and once they go away, they are gone forever”.

Anderson says they work to inspire people to save barns for the love of them or adapt them for other uses – noting many have been re-purposed as wedding or event barns, which have become very popular. Other have converted barns into homes or repurposed them for other uses. Anderson acknowledged that it does take a sizable amount of money to restore barns but suggests that it be done in phases and that people address the most important items first such as stabilization or a new roof while cosmetic things like painting can be saved for last.

The Barn of the Year Program annually honors existing Michigan barns that support the ongoing mission to preserve agricultural heritage exemplified by its barns.

Anderson says they’ve given out 110 awards over the last 28 years, and nominations are received from all over the state.

Nominated barns must be in-use, either for continued agricultural use or adapted for other uses. Barns must retain their overall appearance-both in their interior and exterior barn characteristics. Nominations are open to the public, reviewed and determined by MBPN Awards Committee members.

The categories in which awards are presented are for barns or farmsteads in use for:

-Continuing Agricultural Use - Family/Private, Non-Profit or Commercial
-Adapted to Other Uses - Family/Private, Non-Profit or Commercial

Barns will be judged for (1) completeness of information presented in the application, (2) sensitivity and integrity of repairs or modifications, (3) visual appeal, (4) creativity, (5) thoroughness of work and (6) effort expended to repair and maintain.

Four items are required for the submission:
-A completed one-page application form
-A written narrative of the barn’s history and restoration efforts
-Photographs
-A completed Michigan Barn & Farmstead Inventory

Applications may be reviewed and printed from the website www.mibarn.net. Completed applications must be postmarked or emailed by January 31st, 2025. Awards will be handed out March 15th at an annual conference in St. John’s.

Photos and stories of barns previously recognized as Barn of the Year are also available on the Network’s website. That link is provided. More information is also available in the attachments.

Pictured top to bottom: Ebers Family Barn, Pond House Barn, and Barn 1888.