Historic 122-year-old dairy barn in Richmond gets a restoration

April Fisher, Burlington Free Press
Updated ·2 min read

RICHMOND ― One of Vermont's few remaining large-scale pre-industrial dairy barns is getting a makeover. Richmond's East Monitor Barn was built in 1901, ceased operation in the 1980's, and is now getting restored.

The restoration is a project of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, a nonprofit that provides youth with paid outdoor working-learning opportunities. For the project, the corps is working with Building Heritage, a Vermont-based construction company that specializes in historic preservation.

"It's a project that we're really proud of," said Breck Knauft of Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. "It's a project that has been done on time and with just an incredible degree of skill and care and really love for an old historic building."

Beams were removed from the East Monitor Barn in Richmond on Sept. 23, 2023.
Beams were removed from the East Monitor Barn in Richmond on Sept. 23, 2023.

Picking up and moving a 500,000-pound barn

At four stories tall, 54 feet wide, 112 feet long, and over 500,000 pounds, the East Monitor Barn is one of the largest barns of its kind in the state.

The primary issue the project is addressing is the unevenness between the barn's lower and upper levels.

Over the past century, the upper part of the barn shifted toward the road, while the lower part remained in place. To correct this, the construction crew lifted up the upper part of the barn and moved the lower part forward to straighten out the structure. On Sep. 26, the crew lowered the upper part of the barn back down to its repaired foundation.

Project Supervisor Daniel Lee working on the East Monitor Barn in Richmond on Sept. 28, 2023.
Project Supervisor Daniel Lee working on the East Monitor Barn in Richmond on Sept. 28, 2023.

"I used to live here once upon a time," said lead restorationist Eliot Lothrop of Building Heritage, "and have just been dreaming about this for 22 years now. So every day I kind of come in and I'm just like, 'I can't believe that I'm here and I'm getting to do this work on this barn that I've loved for so long.'"

Construction started in April of this year, and is expected to be finished in 2025.

Once completed, the barn will be used as a housing, teaching, office, and storage space for Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.

Breck Knauft of Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, left, and Eliot Lothrop of Building Heritage, photographed in front of the East Monitor Barn on Sept. 28, 2023.
Breck Knauft of Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, left, and Eliot Lothrop of Building Heritage, photographed in front of the East Monitor Barn on Sept. 28, 2023.

Pre-industrial, pre-mechanical farming

The barn is located on the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps campus, visible from U.S. 2 and Interstate 89.

"It's the gateway to Chittenden County," Lothrop said.

The barn is pre-industrial, so it functioned around an intricate system of pulleys and levers powered by gravity, rather than electricity or gas.

"The barn is incredibly important, not just to me, but to the state and on a national level as well," Lothrop said. "It represents the pinnacle of pre-industrial, pre-mechanical farming."

Contact April Fisher at amfisher@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AMFisherMedia

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Richmond's historic East Monitor Barn is getting restored