Phase Two of the 1901 East Monitor Barn Restoration is complete. The 123-year-old dairy barn on Route 2, owned and stewarded by the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, is now straight, plumb, and resting on a new foundation. A fully repaired slate roof will protect the barn for generations to come.
Built in 1901, the East Monitor Barn is one of the few remaining large-scale dairy barns of its time. It housed a substantial dairy operation until 1985. In 1990, the Vermont Farm Bureau purchased it; and the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) has owned it since 2008.
Today, VYCC’s Conservation and Food & Farm Programs surround the East Monitor Barn. Eleven acres of certified organic vegetable production and conserved forest are training grounds for nearly 200 youth and young adults each year. VYCC participants complete paid service experiences to improve the health of Vermont’s forests, waters and parks; and address food insecurity in five Vermont counties.
Roof restoration in progress on the East Monitor Barn, surrounded by the VYCC campus, with the West Monitor Barn in the distance.
Eliot Lothrop of Building Heritage is overseeing the barn’s restoration and engaged Stewardship Slate for roof repair this year. Dan Lee, VYCC alumnus, is another member of the restoration crew; and several VYCC Corps Members have been directly involved in restoration efforts.
The barn represents the pinnacle in pre-electrical and pre-combustion engine farming. It is one of only a few other four-story bank barns, with hay coming in on a high drive level to fill a haymow below, from which it could be thrown down to the cows on a stock level and their manure shoveled to a basement below. The monitor roof, remnants of hay chutes and ventilation shaft are preserved.
Roof work was partially funded by grants from the 1772 Foundation in cooperation with The Preservation Trust of Vermont, and the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation. Phase One was supported in part by a Save America’s Treasures grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Senator Patrick Leahy was instrumental in helping VYCC secure these funds.
The roof was in poor condition, allowing water inside and damaging the barn’s framing. Building Heritage and Stewardship Slate removed the original slate and salvaged all of the slates still in good condition. The roof sheathing boards were then removed to inspect the rafters, plates and purlins, where there was significant damage to repair and replace. Next, they re-sheathed the roof with 1×8 and 1×10 pine boards, planed on the inside to match the originals. Original slate in good enough condition for re-use was consolidated to the monitor roof, with new slate of the same size installed on the main roof.
Next steps include repair and installation of windows and doors; then Vermont Youth Conservation Corps can fit up the interior to deliver training to young adults in trades, conservation and sustainable agriculture. In addition to running its 40-year-old Conservation Program and 14-year-old Food & Farm Program next year, VYCC plans to launch a pre-apprenticeship program in timber framing next summer.
On the left: The original slate roof, before restoration. On the right: New slates installed on the main barn roof, with reclaimed slates re-installed on the upper monitor roof.
Learn more about VYCC’s Conservation Program and Food & Farm programs.