Another Round Barn - Sparre Barn in Nowthen Minnesota
Sparre Round Barn, Nowthen Minnesota
I found this beautiful barn while researching another round barn in Minnesota. I drove out on a beautiful day while there was till snow on the ground. The current owners were very gracious and even allowed me inside to take pictures of the roof (notice the chandelier in roof). They have put a lot of work into restoring the barn and it shows. Google search of history: Located near Nowthen, the barn used by Erick Sparre in the early twentieth century has a unique circular shape that allowed its owner to maximize storage space, lower construction costs, and increase efficiency. As of 2020, it is the best-preserved dairy barn in Anoka County. Erick Sparre Jr. emigrated to the United States from Sweden with his parents in 1885. He hired local architect to design and construct a barn for his farm in 1917. Sparre won prizes for his farm’s produce, including corn, early Ohio potatoes, and three varieties of apples. This barn is built on a tile basement, and its walls are sheathed in siding. A wooden silo, with a polygonal roof, is attached to the western facade. The barn’s two-story interior is composed of two circles on the first story: the outer circle contains space for cleaning stanchions, and the inner circle contains the stanchions themselves, as well as feeding space for cattle. The second story of the barn was used to store fodder and tools. Sparre used the barn between 1924 and the 1940s—the heyday of Anoka County’s dairy businesses. The building was added to the National Historic Register on January 10, 1980.
