Small Dairy Barn #95
Recognized Federal Heritage Building
Ottawa, Ontario
General view
© Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada, 1987.
Address :
Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site, Ottawa, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Treasury Board Policy on Management of Real Property
Designation Date:
1989-05-31
Dates:
-
1912 to 1912
(Construction)
Event, Person, Organization:
-
Animal Husbandry Division of the Central Experimental Farm
(Architect)
Other Name(s):
-
Sheep Showcase, Small Dairy Barn Building 95
(Other Name)
-
Building 95
(Other Name)
Custodian:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
FHBRO Report Reference:
87-104
DFRP Number:
08625 00
Description of Historic Place
The Small Dairy Barn, also known as Building 95, is located close to the Agricultural Museum at the Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site of Canada in Ottawa. The large, gambrel-roofed, wood-framed barn is clad in board and batten siding and features numerous large windows. Three square roof turrets, housing ventilator boxes, are aligned along the top of the roof ridge, which protectively extends beyond the gable ends. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Heritage Value
The Small Dairy Barn is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.
Historical Value
The Small Dairy Barn is closely associated with the government initiative, undertaken between 1910 and 1920, in scientific livestock improvement and hygienic milk production. The barn housed milk cows and had provisions for carrying out experiments on the digestibility of food. The building was also used by the Agriculture Engineering Institute to perform stress tests on barn trusses. In 1988, the barn was rehabilitated for use as a sheep showcase.
Architectural Value
The Small Dairy Barn is valued for its very good aesthetic design, which resembles the “Wisconsin Barn” type, developed in the mid-west United States at the end of the 19th century. Such features as the gambrel roof, the trussed rafters, the large and numerous windows and the original stable layout are characteristic of this barn type. Also, demonstrating very good functional qualities in its design, the barn was a model of dairy theory and practice from the early 20th century. The physical remains of the waste disposal system and the ventilation system are testimony to the building’s innovative planning and equipment. Very good craftsmanship and materials are evidenced in the building’s vertically battened siding and purged concrete foundation wall.
Environmental Value
The Small Dairy Barn is compatible with the agricultural character of its experimental farm setting and is familiar to visitors and employees of the farm.
Sources: Kate MacFarlane, Building No. 95 (Small Dairy Barn) Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Building Report, 87-104; Sheep Showcase/ Small Dairy Barn, Building No. 95, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement, 87-104.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Small Dairy Barn should be respected.
Its very good ‘Wisconsin barn’ type aesthetic design, very good functional design and every good materials and craftsmanship, for example: the compact and simple massing, including the archetypal barn roof shape with ventilators, a gambrel roof and trussed rafters; the pointed extension to the roof at each gable end which functioned as a cover and support for the hay carrier; the wood frame construction; the symmetrical and regular placement of door openings and large and numerous windows; the physical remains of the waste disposal system such as litter carriers, gutters, etc.,and the ventilation system such as the square roof turrets, ventilator boxes, foul-air outlets, etc; the vertically battened siding and parged concrete foundation wall.
The manner in which the Small Dairy Barn is compatible with the agricultural character of its experimental farm setting and is a familiar building, as evidenced by: its design and materials which harmonize with the finishes and features of the other Central Experimental Farm buildings; its visibility, given its location near the Agricultural Museum on the NCC Driveway; its role as a sheep showcase at the Central Experimental Farm, which makes it a well known building to visitors and employees.
Heritage Character Statement
Disclaimer -
The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.
The Small Dairy Barn was built in 1912 to a design prepared by the Animal Husbandry Division of the Central Experimental Farm. External modifications include a new pattern of windows at the south end (pre-1937), the boarding-up of doors to the wash-room and milk room (c. 1960) and the demolition of the silo (1937-1946). Internal modifications include two new intermediate floors at the south end with their attendant partitions and stairs (pre-1937) the partitioning of various rooms on the hay floor (c. 1960) and the construction of a loft floor over the same rooms, accessible by a single stair. The building is currently (1989) under the care of Public Works Canada. See FHBRO Building Report 87-104.
Reason for Designation
On February 5, 1988, the Small Dairy barn was designated Recognized by the evaluation committee because of the important historical themes with which it is associated, the aesthetically pleasing and functionally efficient qualities of its design, and the care and attention evident in the handling of its building fabric.
The Dairy Barn illustrates very well the government initiatives undertaken between 1910 and 1920 in scientific livestock improvement and hygienic milk production.
Architecturally it represents a classic example of the dairy barn design, developed in the mid-west United States at the end of the 19th century.
When built in 1912, the barn housed 24 milk cows and had provision for carrying out experiments on the digestibility of food stuffs. By the 1970s these activities had been transferred elsewhere, leaving the barn empty. In recent years the building was used by the Agricultural Engineering Institute for stress tests on barn trusses.
The heritage character of this building resides primarily in its resemblance to the "Wisconsin barn" type. Such features as the gambrel roof, the trussed rafters, the large and numerous windows and the original stable layout are characteristic of this barn type.
The building is a model of dairying theory and practice followed in the first years of this century.
Character Defining Elements
One of the reasons for its construction, given in the annual report of 1912-1913, is "to stand as a good type of complete modern barn construction as to capacity, strength and lightness of structure, durability, capacity, convenience, light and ventilation, and in which both healthy cattle and pure milk may be produced." The physical remains of the waste disposal system (litter carrier, gutters, etc.) feed distribution systems (feed passage, hay track, hay chute, etc.), the ventilation system (ventilator boxes, foul-air outlets, roof turrets, etc.) are testimony to the innovative planning and equipment that were part of the original design.
From an aesthetic point of view the symmetrical and regular placement of window and door openings, the archetypal barn roof shape, and the compact and simple building mass contribute to the success of the design.
A portion of the heritage character derives from the presence of certain finishes and features found on other Central Experimental Farm buildings, chosen by the designers to better integrate the building into the total architectural ensemble. Such finishes as the vertically battened siding, and purged concrete foundation wall, such features as the square roof turret, and the pointed extensions to the roof at each gable end (cover and support for the hay carrier) reinforce the commonality of the various farm buildings.
In 1988 the barn was rehabilitated for use as a sheep showcase. The continued use of the building for animal husbandry would place the least demands on the building fabric both on the exterior and interior.