Montjoy Barn Interior

It is late morning in south-central Maryland. Spring has arrived for certain after several false starts, and the gentle sun-warmed morning cedes to a humid afternoon as we explore Mt. Pleasant Farm, a nature preserve maintained by the Howard County Conservancy. My sons feed the goats before we meander down the grassy path to the stream. The hillsides are still brown with faded grasses. When we walk back up the hill, the sun is almost exactly overhead. We are drawn to explore the Montjoy Barn.

We open the double doors on the side of the handsome European-style wheat barn and peek inside. The interior is lofty and cool. The barn smells like autumn harvest, a combination of the wooden timbers, the dried grasses hanging from the beams, and the hay bales on the floor.

The barn is timber frame construction, made entirely of old-growth oak. Some of the posts and beams are 18th-century originals and bear the markings of the axe that shaped them. Wooden pegs join the pieces, and there are no nails used in the structure.

In the quiet coolness of the barn, I close my eyes for a moment and imagine myself transported back to the days of the Revolutionary War in which the barn was likely constructed. The stone foundation is like those found in German barns of the time, and the distinctive high ceiling and side doors mimic the style of English wheat barns. Right around the time the American war for independence raged, a skilled German immigrant may have directed the construction of the barn. Over the centuries since it was built, the barn stored tobacco and wheat and was later used to shelter livestock.

The silent barn contains the hush of laborers resting after a long day's work. It has done its job efficiently for generations, and now it is at rest.