San Luis Obispo's Historic Octagon Barn Restoration

As important as the physical work is the planning for the Octagon Barn’s future.  A committee was formed in 2008 for this purpose.  It has developed a vision for an Octagon Barn Center, which now includes a leased portion of adjacent Caltrans parcel (to the east).  See Octagon Barn for details. 

The Land Conservancy welcomes participation on the various committees developing the vision for the Center (landscaping, fundraising (called "Friends of the Octagon Barn Center"), education (developing plans for teaching about agriculture and history) and construction (two additional buildings will be needed for storage and for support of the Bob Jones Pathway).

Finally, all this takes money.  There is a Barn Fund at the Land Conservancy for donations targeted on the Octagon Barn Center.  Significant additional funds will be needed to complete the addition of amenities for public use.

Real or half-remembered, such images [of barns and their sensory attributes] reflect the warmth with which barns are widely regarded. 

Yet a more practiced, if prejudiced, eye may see in these structures a body of endeavor whose roots reach deep into the saga of western civilization. 

Here,  . . .  is an irrefutable testimony to the integrity and economy with which builders shaped native materials into monumental structures.

Endersby, et al, The Barn,
Houghton Mifflin, 1992, page 9

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Phone: (805) 544.9096
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As one of less than half a dozen known historic-period round barns extant in California, the barn appears eligible under National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) Criterion C (California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) Criterion 3) as a significant example of a type, period, and method of construction.

Stornetta Bridge, built in 1915 from the designs of Leonard & Day, consulting engineers, is one of four surviving examples of the firm’s patented "canticrete" bridge type built between about 1914 and 1921. Stornetta Bridge appears eligible under Criteria C (3) as an important work of a significant designer. 

Both the octagonal barn and Stornetta Bridge appear significant at the statewide level and retain sufficient historic integrity to convey their significance.  Octagon Barn on South Higuera Street (CA-SLO-1002H / P-40-001002)  see Slo County Parks.

"There Will Be Blood" is a fictional account of the construction of a pipeline from the San Joaquin Valley to Port San Luis. The "Tank Farm" in San Luis Obispo, at one time, held 15 million barrels of oil, and was part of the staging system to the port.

Per the census of 1900, there were 16,697 people in the county. (See Census.gov.) Also, in 1881 there were 50 dairies in SLO County (per Guthrie-Bianchini House in Cambria).  Produced 21,200 lbs. butter/week.  One dairy with 500 cows in Cambria produced 1200 lbs of cheese/day selling at $.17/lb. in SF.

What has been the Land Conservancy role?

The Land Conservancy’s long term effort to restore habitat in San Luis Obispo Creek created the "accidental" effort to restore the barn.  John and Howard Hayashi, owners of the Barn property, had generously provided the Land Conservancy access to their section of San Luis Obispo Creek for a riparian habitat restoration project.  The creek was located right next to the octagon barn.  Ray Belknap, the former Executive Director of the Land Conservancy, saw the old barn and watched it continue to lean and sag. In conversations with the Hayashi’s the effort to save the barn was born. 

From that point forward, the Land Conservancy has provided the leadership to bring together generous contributions of passionate caring, skills, in kind donations, and money to make today’s landmark a possibility.  Recently, the Land Conservancy reached agreement with the Hayashi’s on a 99 year lease with an option to buy.  The Land Conservancy continues to lead the effort to complete the restoration and transition the barn into a new life in the community.

 

How was the restoration done?

The barn restoration effort literally happened from the bottom up. In nine years of volunteer work the foundation has been replaced, the walls have been straightened or replaced, huge utility poles were inserted to support the roof while it was re-framed and braced, and the entire barn and the creamer have been painted.  Around the periphery, special bracing, amounting to a "compression ring" was worked into the walls, just below the roofline.

 

 

The cupola was placed on the roof in December 2005 and the first layer of decomposed granite was laid for the flooring. Section by section the weathered and worn shingles were replaced with custom-made redwood shingles.  The roof was completed in November 2008.

What needs to be done and how can you help?
Volunteers meet at the barn on the second Saturday of each month between 8:00 a.m and 12 noon. Please call the Land Conservancy for details.

Go to Page 2 of Restoration Pictures