Robert Weber Round Barn, Durand Illinois
- Categories:
- Illinois
- Barn
- Round Barn
The Weber Barn was built in 1917 by two sets of contractors. Another contractor, whose name is unknown, laid the concrete foundation and the tile walls. The wooden roof was built by the Haas brothers.
The Weber Barn is the last round barn on which the Haas brothers are known to have worked. They built the roof. Vitrified tile, like that in the Weber Barn, was preferred in the last period of round barn construction in the United States. Metal-clad entrances and windows complement the feeling of durability. The hipped roof with rafters braced at the hip joint by 4-inch by 4-inch pieces, 8 feet long, nailed on each side of the rafter and with a 2-inch by 4-inch piece extending from the roof hip and nailed between the parallel 4-inch by 4-inch pieces form a brace which was one of the key details of the most advanced round barn advocated by the agricultural experiment station at the University of Illinois. This detail in the Weber barn is different than similar details in the Bruce and Fehr barn. The difference reveals an evolution in the Haas' carpentry which can probably be attributed directly to the agricultural experiment station, University of Illinois, and illustrates the transition of round barn construction from the eccentricities of local carpenters to the uniform principles promoted by the agricultural experiment stations in general.
This 55-foot diameter barn rests on a poured concrete foundation. It has a central silo with a 24-foot diameter. The barn and silo walls are built of brown, hollow, vitrified tiles each measuring 1 foot by 4 3/4 inches. Loft entrance is by a banked earthen ramp on the north side. Animal access is on the west side. These entrances and all windows are framed in metal. The single-hip roof is supported by a brace on both sides of each rafter in the fashion promoted by the Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Illinois. Wooden shingles cover the roof which is capped by a small metal ventilator.
The original design and materials are completely intact.
Looking southeast (1983)
South quadrant wall showing metal framing on main entrance (1983)
