Property Record
W SIDE OF STEBBINSVILLE RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Gilley-Tofsland Octangonal Barn |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 16400 |
| Location (Address): | W SIDE OF STEBBINSVILLE RD |
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| County: | Rock |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Porter |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 4 |
| Range: | 11 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 3 |
| Quarter Section: | NE |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | NE |
| Year Built: | 1913 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1977 |
| Historic Use: | centric barn |
| Architectural Style: | Octagon |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | John Almond |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Gilley-Tofsland Octagonal Barn |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/4/1979 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: | Centric Barns of Rock County Thematic Group |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. JOHN ALMOND - CARPENTER. “Centric” (round or octagonal) barns like the Gilley-Tofsland Octagonal Barn were once fairly common in Wisconsin. Promoters such as Franklin H. King, a professor at the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station in Madison, enthusiastically promoted centric barns in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and many progressive farmers embraced the idea. Around 1913, Will and Flora Gilley asked carpenter John Almond to build this barn for their herd of Guernseys. The three-story barn wraps around a concrete-block silo, which is ventilated by a low conical cupola, in which pairs of windows alternate with louvered panels. A framework of 8-inch-square posts and 8-by-2-inch rafters forms the structure, and horizontal lapped siding composes the walls. The barn is set into the side of a hill, exposing the rough-faced concrete-block basement (where the cows lived) on the south and west sides. This arrangement allowed the cattle access to the barnyard and provided plenty of windows for light and ventilation. Above the basement, the main story contained several grain bins, and the Gilleys could drive a wagon directly in through a set of twelve-foot-tall wooden doors on the east side. Finally, above the main floor, a mezzanine-level haymow opened to the rafters and the grambreled, octagonal ceiling. |
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| Bibliographic References: | OCTANGONAL HOUSES IN WI p6 Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |