By Rhonda Westfall

It wasn’t an old-fashioned barn raising, but Jason and Jolene Vanneste’s barn-moving project was the next best thing, producing the same result. At the end of the day, a vintage 1880s barn stood tall and proud near the couple’s home on Pratt Road in Riley Township – just like it would have at the turn of the last century when neighbors and friends joined together on a routine basis to help each other build barns.

In fact, the sight of a large 38x54 foot barn being trundled nearly four miles drew the attention of as many people as a barn-raising would have years ago.

"It was really something to see," Jason admits with a laugh, noting in particular the difficulty of moving the barn across a narrow bridge abutment that required some old-fashioned ingenuity of greasing the top with soap and strategic positioning of boards along the top. "The measurement was just a tad off, but the soap and boards worked."

That close squeeze was practically the only difficulty the moving crew encountered in the day-long project that began at the farm of Joe and Pat Kolp on Pratt Road in neighboring Westphalia Township to the Vanneste Ecological Farm – the barn’s new home.

The Kolp’s purchased the farm that included the barn a number of years ago. An abstract of the property dates to the 1800s. While no positive date exists for the original construction of the barn, Joe and Jason believe it was probably built in the late 1880s or early 1890s, based on the materials and design.

"There are some truly monster beams in here," Jason says of the hand-hewn beams that provide the structure’s main support. "They were probably cut from trees in the woodlot on the property of the farm, and hauled up by horses to the building site."

The idea of moving the barn developed from "farm" conversations that began several years ago between Joe and Jason. They first met when Jason was teaching a course at nearby Riley Elementary School, and Joe was working there as part of the GM job bank program.

"We discovered we were neighbors," Jason recalls. "We talked a lot about farming and the relatively unique methods of small-farm management that Jolene and I have adopted on our property."

In subsequent conversations as their friendship developed, Joe mentioned that he was planning to put up a new barn and would probably raze the existing structure. Would Jason and Jolene be interested in trying to move the barn, Joe wondered?

The young couple jumped at the chance.

"Having a barn on the property was part of our long-range plans, and the opportunity to own an old barn like this was like a dream come true," Jolene says.

The young couple’s fledgling operation currently includes poultry, pork, beef and heritage fruit and vegetables. They hope to expand into dairy sales – meaning a barn is a necessity.

"Our goal and dream is to sell milk direct to the buyer and do some processing of organic dairy items like cheese, yogurt and other things," Jason says, noting that lots of "finish" work needs to be done on the relocated barn before that can happen.

"The barn will eventually be set up above the cement foundation, creating vertical space for a lower-level dairy. There will be lots of windows in the space between the barn floor and ground level to promote good ventilation and natural light."

Jason and Jolene know that the process will require lots of time. Just like everything else they have built from scratch on the 48-acre property – including the home they live in with their two young children and Jason’s grandmother, Nadine Beard – work on the barn will be a true labor of love.

"We’re probably rare – not many folks would want this sort of lifestyle, but farming in this fashion is what we’ve really always wanted to do," Jolene says, noting that a bachelor of science degree in microbiology from Michigan State University will come in handy in the unique farm endeavor. She currently works for the State of Michigan, Department of Community Health.

Jason’s bachelor of art degree in education with minors in environmental science and geography is also paying dividends in the farm operation. He has developed warm and cool season "prairies" and allowed about three acres of natural wetland to emerge on the property that used to be under cultivation for cash crops prior to the couple’s purchase of the land.

The couple has also planted a woodlot that includes over 3,000 sugar maple seedlings, pine trees, varieties of fruit-bearing shrubs, and oak and black walnut trees. They named the farm "Hickory Corner" for an old shag-bark hickory tree that holds a place of honor on the property that is located on the corner of Forest Hill and Pratt roads.

"We know this whole process will take a very long time, but this is for our children and their children – this is our life," Jason says, looking far into the future for little two-year-old Jack, and Anna, aged eight months.

The newly acquired barn will play a big role in the family’s plans.

"This is going to be a beauty someday," Jason says, imagining the day when a silo will be situated on the north side of the barn – and more than likely, Jack and Anna will play in the barn’s loft that will be filled with hay for the farm’s livestock.