Tennessen Barn
W9110 County J
Catawba, Wisconsin
In 1936, Ben and Marie Vlach built this barn in the township of Harmony for $1500. It served as a central gathering place for the Tennessen family and their beloved animals until 1978 when Pete and Sylvia Tennessen retired from farming and sold their herd. For the next 21 years, it stood vacant, except for pigeons taking up residence in the hayloft. As a result of so much neglect, it deteriorated to the point of collapse.  |
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In the fall of 1998, the Tennessen siblings decided to restore it. They had no intention of reactivating it as a dairy barn. Instead, they envisioned using it as a social gathering place. In fact, before starting the restoration in May, 1999, they fixed the date and announced a barn re-opening party for September 18th . As it turns out, this commitment probably made the difference between project success and failure. A barn restoration company was hired to straighten and rebuild the infrastructure which was completed by Memorial Day. Four of the Tennessen siblings (Mariann, Dennis, Norb, and Barb) then proceeded to make improvments: rebuilding and glazing windows, rebuilding doors, power washing the interior and exterior, replacing damaged siding, etc.
But on July 29th , a severe storm with 85 mph straight line winds almost destroyed the barn. As can be seen in the following pictures, the barn leaned seriously to the north and east by more than a foot off center. As this was only six weeks before the scheduled barn party, it was unclear whether to push it over or straighten it back up. Searching for comic relief, Barb Tennessen joked “Gee, when we talked of having a barn dance, I guess the barn took that to mean that IT would do the dancing.” Thanks to an ingenious barn straightening technique that only an engineer might think of (local forester and structural engineer Ed Lasee), the barn was made straight again within three days. Teams of people then pitched in, working maniacally to get the barn ready to party on schedule. Painting and cleaning continued until just minutes before guests arrived. Since that first “BarnAgain” party in 1999, by popular demand, the pary has become an annual event.
