By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

SILVER LAKE, Ind. — A Wabash County round barn with a Kosciusko County address and close ties to Fulton County received a second lease on life when Mike and Georgianna Hileman purchased the dilapidated structure they had loved since childhood.

The Kindig Brothers of Rochester, assisted by owner Ralph Floor and some of his neighbors, erected the 60-foot-diameter, 50-foot-high structure in 1918. While Floor opted for a round barn because it was cheaper than erecting a conventional, rectangular barn, it became his pride and joy.

Over the years, however, the once trim structure leaned and sagged so much it was difficult to tell its approximate size or the fact its timbers still were basically sound. As far as the extended Floor family was concerned, it remained “Grandpa’s barn” in spite of a succession of owners.

The Hilemans, well-aware of the barn’s history since both grew up in the area, lived across the road and were saddened to see its threatened slip into obscurity or, even worse, demolition. They tried for years to purchase the barn, but didn’t succeed until the day before they left to spend the winter in Florida. Instead of relaxing, they spent most of their time watching Indiana’s weather and making phone calls to determine the status of their barn and, especially, its deteriorating roof.

Relieved to find it standing when they returned, they sought contractors to straighten the building and build a new cupola to replace one that had been removed years before. Many took one look at the barn and declined.
Finally, they hired Reiff Construction of Warsaw. Reiff, in turn, subcontracted with Ernie Swartz of Berne. Swartz and his Amish crew made the 190-mile round trip daily for most of one summer to complete the project.

Shadowing them much of the time were Larry Floor, Akron, one of Ralph Floor’s grandsons, who had fond memories of working with his grandfather in and around the barn, and Floor’s daughter, Deborah, who photographed every step of the reconstruction.

“I remember Grandpa telling me how they cut timber in a woods across the road,” Floor said.

“They pulled the logs with mules and horses to a location near the barn where the Rev. H. F. Richards and his father operated a portable sawmill, cutting beams and siding while Grandpa, the Kindigs and some neighbors built the barn.”
“Grandpa always said he built a round barn because it was cheaper, but he never felt it was second best,” Floor said. “It worked for him.”
On a stroll through the barn, Floor pointed out where his grandfather’s horses were stalled on one side with cows on the other. “The main difference I see is all the electric lighting in here. Grandpa didn’t have electricity out here.”
Later, he observed that the sliding doors were straight: “Grandpa took them down every so often and weighted them in the middle so that they curved with the barn.”

The finished barn delights everyone who sees it – or uses it. Georgianna Hileman has lost track of the weddings, receptions and Sunday school parties the barn has hosted. “It’s strictly a three-season barn,” she said. “It’s not heated.”

As president of Gaunt and Son Asphalt, Mike Hileman brought in a crew to pave the area around the barn with blacktop and to line it with designated parking places. His crew also poured the barn’s new concrete floor.
Unfortunately, Mike Hileman didn’t live to share the barn’s new popularity. He lost a battle with cancer in 2009, taking the barn’s final secret to his grave.
“He never would tell me how much we spent rebuilding the barn,” Georgianna said. The closest he came was when he observed to a visitor that they could have built a really good pole barn for what they spent on the structure they saw every day from their home across the road.