By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com
The storied Teague Barn’s future was very much in doubt in the early stages of 2018.
But, thanks to a couple in Colorado, the barn has a new life.
Aly and Orlin Camerlo, who own and operate Howard Creek Farm in Howard, Colo., purchased the barn and had it reconstructed at their farm.
The Camerlos purchased an 11-acre farm, and with Aly’s 12 years of wedding planning experience, thought it would be great if they could build a venue that could host weddings on their property.
When the Camerlos started the process, they quickly found that hardwood was a scarcity in the West.
“If we were to build a barn of this size, we would’ve had to use Douglas Fir, and it’d be quite a milling process,” Orlin said. “It wouldn’t be 30 feet at the peak. So that eliminated that (option) pretty early.”
The Camerlos wanted to stick with a barn that had hand-hewn beams and hardwoods from the Midwest.
They did some research, and found some opportunities online.
“There’s a tremendous amount of barns you can take down yourself,” Orlin said. “But, that’s a massive undertaking.”
The Camerlos found D&K Construction out of Flora, and started working with them after they found the Teague Barn for sale.
Orlin flew to Indiana to see the Teague Barn and see it firsthand.
“It was one of those structures where we knew it had a lot of potential,” Orlin said. “The design is so unique on the inside with only five beams, that it really allows for us to do events in there. It was pretty wide open, which was really important for us.”
For the Camerlos, they fell in love with the look of the barn almost immediately.
“We loved the hand hewn beams,” Aly said. “Just everything about it was just perfect.”
They started the reconstruction process in January with the pouring of the new foundation.
The barn is up now, with the finishing of the roof coming last week.
“(Orlin) and his cousin are doing the siding currently,” Aly said. “I’d say, start to finish, the process for construction will take about nine months.”
The barn is back in its original form, with as much original wood used as possible.
“For us, I think what’s really special is that we’re able to keep the barn alive,” Aly said. “And, we’re going to host weddings in it. So, we think it’s a pretty special thing to have it be part of one of the most special days in people’s lives, and hopefully it’ll keep bringing happiness to couples.”
The Camerlos are booking weddings for this fall and in 2020.
You can check out their operation at https://howardcreekfarm.com.
The barn was built in 1861 in Wabash County by Nathan Hubbard, a master builder from a nearby Quaker family. Hubbard built the barn for the family of Prudence and Samuel Teague, prominent members of the Friends Church, who fled the south due to their opposition of slavery. They purchased the land on the modern-day Mill Creek Pike in 1850.
The barn was originally used for cattle, and the floor was made up of limestone cut from the side of a hill from the nearby Wabash River.
Hubbard’s work was put on hold temporarily when he went and fought in the Civil War, but he returned to finish once the war concluded.
In 1888, the property was sold to Jewish immigrants from Germany – Harmon Wolf, Abe Strauss and Nathan Myer.
The barn was used as stables for Belgian Draft horses and was named Wabash Importing Company, which later morphed into the Belgian Draft Horse Corporation of America, which is still headquartered in Wabash.
The farm the barn sat on was later owned by the Pearson, Hunt, Long and Miller families.
In 2002, the barn was placed on both the state and national Registers of Historic Places.
It had begun to age and deteriorate by 2003, when local efforts to fund raise to save and restore the barn were unsuccessful.