Hay and Horse Barn, Wells Reserve at Laudholm - Wells, ME - Barns on Waymarking.com

In Wells, within the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, is this yellow barn.

The barn is a central structure in a cluster located near the parking lot. To get there, from US Route 1, look for and turn east onto Laudholm Farm Road. Follow this road to the end at a parking lot. The barn is at the end of the path from the parking lot.

The barn is a wooden, rectangular structure with a peaked roof. The structure is painted yellow with white trim. There are two cupolas, one of which has a weathervane.

Currently, the barn has bathroom facilities at the bottom floor. I'm not sure what the current use is - the land has been converted from a farm to a research reserve. The whole facility is on the National Register of Historic Places.

There is a sign with the following:

"Historic Laudholm Farm

Hay and Horse Barn
A grand barn for a model farm
Built for three teams of horses and to store hay for the winter, the 'Big Barn' replaced a similar building that burned in 1902. The Lords built the barn with high quality materials and added technological innovations. These included a hay wagon floor scale for tracking the harvest, a chute for delivering oats to stalls from a storage bin on the second floor, an electric hoist for lifting hay to the storage area above, and plumbing for refilling water bowls for each horse.

Horses were used for work on the far, as well as for pleasure and transportation. When George Clement Lord II took the train to Boston, he rode a mile on horseback or by carriage to the Elms Station, then told his horses to go home. They would end up right back here at the barn.

Farmers used the barn's weathervane, together with their knowledge of cloud forms, to predict the weather. Since hay could mold or even ignite if stored too wet, farmers wanted fields to be dry when cutting. The weathervane that tops the barn today is a replica; the original is displayed in the Visitor Center."

Construction: Wood Is this a 'working' barn?: Stable (used to house farm animals) Distinctive Features: This barn has a hay loft Other Distinctive Features: Weathervane Rating - Please Rate this Barn: Other: Not listed

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