ALGONA - When Evert Broesder was a young man, he didn't know how historic the wooden, round barn his grandfather H.A. Bates built in 1911 on his farm in Kossuth County would become.
He had no way to predict that the two other remaining round barns in the area would burn, making his the last to survive in the county, and he is modest to this day about the eye-catching structure that will be featured in the Iowa Barn Foundation's Northwest Iowa Barn Tour this weekend.
The story of the barn began when Bates bought a $5 permit to build the barn from Horace Duncan of Knightstown, Ind., in 1911.
The permit and other photos are pictured in the book Barns Around Iowa: A Sampling of Iowa's Round Barns, by Luella Hazeltine and Deb Schense. The book is just one item in a stack of photos, documents and stories about the barn Broesder has compiled through the years.
Broesder's barn is believed to be the only barn in Iowa built from a Horace Duncan design, more common in Indiana and Illinois. According to the Iowa Barn Foundation Web site, Duncan "was one of America's renowned round barn builders."
"The permit turned out to be a sham. Anyone could build a round barn without a permit," Broesder said. "To my knowledge there weren't any plans that came with the permit."
Broesder said the barn was built with native trees, most likely over the course of one summer, and required extra labor to accommodate the circular design.
"There was some hesitation from the help on how to do it," he said. "The lumber had to be bent." Wooden shingles were trimmed to fit the round, conical roof.
The circular shape was popular at the time but faded quickly, Broesder said. Some thought round barns were more resistant to storms and a more efficient use of space.
Standing 45 feet high and 48 feet in diameter, the barn was used in the family dairy operation, with stanchions for 10 milk cows and stalls for three team draft horses. It also held sheep part of the year.
The large dormer on the front of the barn was used for hay and oats for horse feed. Broesder described a system in which a rope would lift the feed in and a carrier and track system would roll it to the middle of the barn. Oats were kept in a feed bin in the dormer.
In the 1950s, the barn went through some repairs and improvements. Batting was added between the vertical boards. Siding was put on as well as a new roof. The foundation of non-washed sand had crumbled and was replaced with concrete.
The barn was built with three sets of large, double roller doors, Broesder said. They were replaced also in the '50s with smaller doors that let less cold air in.
The barn was originally red with white trim but it was painted white in the 1950s, a common practice at the time, he said.
Broesder continues to maintain his barn out of his own pocket, turning down offers from outside organizations to restore the barn.
"I keep thinking of my dad and granddad, what they would want, and I hesitate to accept," he said.
With old barns becoming scarcer in Iowa and repairs expensive, Broesder hopes one of his two sons will maintain the special round barn in the future.
"It's not the type of thing farmers look for now," he said. "It's more of an heirloom, an oddity."
Broesder was amused when he got a call a few years ago from a wedding planner inquiring about using the building.
"It was so dirty and full of cobwebs, but I didn't say 'no' right away. She did end up finding a different place for the wedding," he said.
Today the barn is home to some old dairy equipment and hay bales, and work on the roof is due again. The fluttering of birds' wings echo through the barn as diffuse light filters through the dusty windows. The barn is weathered from decades of use, though its purpose has changed to one of educating visitors on its history.
To get to the Broesder barn, from Algona go east on Highway 18, turn north onto Plum Creek Road, take a left onto 140th Avenue, and follow for a few miles to 2608 140th Ave.
Fourteen historic and out-of-the-ordinary barns will be featured on the self-guided barn tour. It runs Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and is free and open to the public.
For more information on the tour and the Iowa Barn Foundation, visit www.iowabarnfoundation.org or contact tour chairman Carrie Jones at 712-832-3227.