Decade-old barns are aired out to ready for Historic Preservation days

Set in a flowering meadow with swallows flying overhead and a small, well-stocked pond just below, the Cheadle Barn is the picture of pastoral beauty. For more than a century, the red-sided barn has overlooked a sweeping view of the Willamette Valley, and now, under the care of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex at Finley Wildlife Refuge, it will continue to be appreciated.

More than 100 years ago, the barn was built as part of the Irwin Farm. In the 1940s the farm was bought by the Cheadle family, who added wings to both sides of the structure and kept it as a working barn, first for cattle and later for sheep. It now houses some abandoned farm equipment and hewn beams but serves mostly as a place for Roosevelt elk to shelter from rain and snow and as a barn swallow haven.

This weekend, visitors will have a rare opportunity to tour two of the historic barns on the Finley property. As part of Benton County’s celebration of Historic Preservation Month, guides will share the historic significance of the Cheadle Barn and Fiechter Barn and give visitors a chance to enjoy a walk through some of the valley’s prettiest scenery.

Chantel Jimenez, outdoor recreation planner for the refuge, will be one of the guides on the tour. She spent Monday afternoon walking through the barns and inspecting the level of the uncut meadow grass creeping against the walls.

“The original design and structure is still all intact,” Jimenez said, making her way through the dark, dusty barn, past owl pellets and discarded farm implements. She pointed to the efficiently built cow stalls, where milking harnesses were still hanging. A trench was positioned directly below the cow’s rear ends to collect waste for disposal.

“There’s a huge pulley system upstairs,” Jimenez said, that allowed farmers to haul hay up to the second level and store it for future use. Each part of the barn blended form and function.

Although the staff at the refuge view the barns as historical assets, there is barely enough money to occasionally freshen up the red paint, let alone clean up the buildings and do routine maintenance to keep them from falling down.

“It’s something we put Band-Aids on to keep it steady,” Jimenez said.

A newly formed Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex group will likely be enlisted to help raise money for historic preservation and restoration, and some grants may be available. But for now, the barns are simply existing — and deteriorating.

“We’re not funded to maintain them,” said Doug Spencer, the refuge manager.

Just keeping the shakes on the roof of the Fiechter barn from rotting is a practically impossible task, Spencer said, looking up at the holes in the roof. On Monday, sunlight was pouring through, but in wet weather the rain gets in, leaking onto the wood floor.

Several old carriages sat under plastic tarps, awaiting a new home at the proposed Horner Museum in downtown Corvallis. The owls haven’t been kind to the tarps, but as Jimenez and Spencer pulled back the coverings to reveal the carriages, they looked as though they’ll make a nice addition to the tour.

The Fiechter Barn is unusual in that it has many large, glass-paned windows, which weren’t, it turns out, aimed at giving the cattle some sunshine. The barn doubled as a place to bring carriages in out of the weather, keeping the family and the equipment dry as the horses were hitched up.

“You had wealth back then,” Jimenez said admiringly of the towering barn, illuminated by the windows that haven’t yet been boarded up.

Visitors will have a chance to admire both barns Saturday, with a free tour beginning at 9 a.m. at the Fiechter House on the Finley Wildlife Refuge. After touring the house and barn, visitors will be shuttled to the Cheadle House, where they’re invited to bring their own picnic lunch and enjoy the view, accompanied by the folk and bluegrass music of Still on the Hill.

The William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge is south of Corvallis at 26208 Finley Refuge Road, just west of Highway 99W.

Historic Preservation Month events

Saturday: 9 a.m., Historic Barns Driving Tour, William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, south of Corvallis off U.S. Highway 99W. Meet at Fiechter House parking area.

Sunday: 2 p.m., College Hill West Historic District Walking Tour. Meet at Arnold Park, Arnold Way at Jackson Avenue.

May 9: 6 p.m., North College Hill Historic Neighborhood Walking Tour. Meet outside Magruder House, 2323 N.W. Monroe Ave.

May 11: 6 p.m., “Downtown Rocks: A Geology Walking Tour.” Meet at Riverfront Park fountain, Northwest First Street at Jackson Avenue.

May 13: 11 a.m., Soap Creek Schoolhouse Tour, west of Tampico Road on Soap Creek Road.

May 13: 2 p.m., Avery-Helm Historic District Walking Tour. Meet at Gazette-Times parking lot, 600 S.W. Jefferson Ave.

May 14: 2 p.m., OSU Walking Tour. Meet at east side of Benton Hall, Northwest 14th Street at Campus Way.

May 17: 10:30 a.m., Hull-Oakes Sawmill Tour. Meet at 360 S.W. Avery Ave. Tour is limited to 20 people; for reservations call 766-6819, ext. 6293.

May 18: 12:30 p.m., “Evaluating Heritage Real Estate” with Donovan Rypkema. Brown bag lunch at the Flinn Block, 221 First Ave. S.W., Albany.

May 20: 2 p.m., Wren Community Hall Tour.

May 21: 2 p.m., Franklin Square Historic Neighborhood Walking Tour. Meet at Franklin Square, Northwest Taylor Avenue at 15th Street.

May 24: 6:30 p.m., Historic Downtown Corvallis Walking Tour. Meet at Riverfront Park fountain, Northwest First Street at Jackson Avenue.

May 25: 7 p.m., Annual Preservation Awards Ceremony, Corvallis Art Center, 700 S.W. Madison Ave.