Recently I was honored to have a photograph of one of my favorite Ohio barns used on the cover of the April/May 2013 issue of Farm & Ranch Living Magazine, which is published by The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. This issue showcases some of the “Great Barns of the Midwest” on pages 16-19.
The spectacular round barn was built by Horace Duncan in 1908 on the J.H. Manchester farm in Auglaize County, Ohio, where it has served the Manchester family for five generations. Echoing an eighty-year-old Shaker design, hay and feed were stored in the center of the barn for livestock housed around the circumference. With a diameter of 102 feet, the Manchester barn is the largest round barn east of the Mississippi River. In 2008, to celebrate the centennial of the barn, it was repainted bright red, with white trim. The entrance to the barn faces west and the barn is best photographed in the afternoon. A blue sky provides the best contrast to the red siding on the barn, which is now used for storage.
The Manchester farm is located at 29249 State Route 385, Lakeview, Ohio 43331. The GPS coordinates are: 40.558827N 83.891335W. The barn can be seen from State Route 385, but the best views are obtained by driving up the driveway to the farmhouse, introducing yourself to the Manchester family and asking permission to photograph their magnificent round barn from a closer vantage point.
Ken Smith
30 Dec 2013Is a picture of this barn available for sale?
Dawn Gibson
6 Feb 2014I had to go to training in Auglaize County today. I was driving down St.Rt. 385 (new to the area and had never been on this road before) and came around the bend and WOW. I looked across the snow covered fields and there was this bright red barn. Beautiful! I slowed down and noticed the sign said Manchester Farm, so when I got home I looked up Manchester Farm in Auglaize County and your picture came up. I also get Farm and Ranch magazine, so now I am going to have to go back and look up this copy again, from last year.
I just loved the beautiful rural scene with the awesome barn. Thanks for your picture!
Claire
15 Apr 2014Love this barn! Are there any interior photographs of it?
Elaine
9 Aug 2015Is the barn open to the public?
ianadams1
23 Aug 2015No, as mentioned in the post, it’s a private barn.
Jo reasoner
3 Jan 2016Magnificent
Anabell Yard
7 Jan 2016I just love this big round bar and the red and white color….. My 2 daughters had horses they showed in 4-H from age 9-19 so we built a barn for them, 2 horses on left and hay storage on right…. Girls are Amy 46 and Aly 41 so barn is storage now but this year was last summer for granddaughter in 4-h so my oldest daughter has always had horses.. The each had one to trail ride..
Vickie Hemmelgarn
11 Jan 2016My Grandparents worked for the Manchester family, my mother was born in the house there in 1928.
Vickie Hemmelgarn
11 Jan 2016I think I have old photographs of the home and grounds. Have to go through them
Jim Downing
11 Jan 2016I would love to have a chance to check it out closer sometime. To many beautiful old barns are either left to rot away and fall or are just torn down, because. So nice to see when someone truly appreciates the historic significance. You are to be commended
lynn deniston
13 Jan 2016I wish I had known of its existance when I lived near there in the 40’s,50’s and 60’s.
Gwyn Stanford Young
21 Jan 2016Awe struck…my grandfather, God rest his soul, would have loved. I can remember as a child him building a barn with my grandmother telling him every step of the way, how it should be done…Lol. Such fund childhood memories. Now I am the grandmother of six boys, ranging in ages 13 to 22 and one girl age 15. Boy do I miss my grandparents and parents….
ianadams1
2 Feb 2016Gwyn,
As the writer and artist Eric Sloane once said, “Barns are the shrines of a good life, and ought to be remembered.”
Ian
ianadams1
2 Feb 2016Lynn:
As the writer and artist Eric Sloane once said, “Barns are the shrines of a good life, and ought to be remembered.”
Ian
ianadams1
2 Feb 2016Jim:
As the writer and artist Eric Sloane once said, “Barns are the shrines of a good life, and ought to be remembered.”
Ian
ianadams1
2 Feb 2016Vickie:
As the writer and artist Eric Sloane once said, “Barns are the shrines of a good life, and ought to be remembered.”
Ian
ianadams1
2 Feb 2016Anabell:
As the writer and artist Eric Sloane once said, “Barns are the shrines of a good life, and ought to be remembered.”
Ian
Vonda Otto
6 Oct 2016I am a little confused… Lakeview in in Logan County. How is this in Auglaize?
Myra Connolly
15 Oct 2016I love to do jigsaw puzzels on the internet and one day this gorgeous barn was one of the puzzels. I thought the barn was so beautiful I researched and read all about it. It truly is amazing and I’m so glad the Manchesters have preserved it.
TopShelf
28 Oct 2016I grew up outside Roundhead, just a few miles from this barn. It has always been a source of pride for the family. I remember it as white, but it looks spectacular now in red with white trim, especially when you see it across a golden field of wheat or a snow-covered field.
ianadams1
20 Nov 2016Vonda:
The address for the Manchester Farm is correct, and it is in Auglaize county.
Ian
ianadams1
20 Nov 2016Me too, Myra – the Manchester round barn is my favorite Ohio barn.
Ian
ianadams1
20 Nov 2016I agree. I also photographed it when it was white, but I like the new color scheme much better.
Ian
Cindy Harter
16 Jun 2019This barn is in New Hampshire I believe which is close to Lakeview but into Auglaize County. I also thought it used to be white and I have a distant memory of going to a barn in that town to buy oranges (a citrus business) when I was little.
David R Cox
21 Feb 2022my dad worked for Crosby
my dad (Robert Cox)) worked for Crosby II and Ruth Manchester in the 1930’s, I was born
in 1934 in a house just across the lane from the big barn (the house is no longer standing).
I can remember being in that barn many times. There was a house behind the BIG HOUSE,
That Frank and Juanita Painter and their family lived. Many great memories.
Karen Byrd
14 Jul 2024Is there a print you can order of this barn? I remember seeing it when lived in OH. Please let me know.