Barns of the Dungeness Valley

The Mantle barn was part of a very large dairy operation for its day with the large number of milking stations. It was considered to be a local showplace. It is currently part of Henery's Nursery. Unfortunately this barn was condemned by the City and torn down in early 2008.

The barn was built by Jesse Mantle (superintendent of Sequim schools) in the late 20's with cow stations on three sides. Later a milking parlor was added with a milk tank room and small bathroom on the northwest corner of the barn. It was one of the few barns without center supports, all the weight was carried on it’s outside walls. There was a hayloft at one time but it was taken out so that hay was stacked against the walls. When the hay settled it pushed the walls out, starting the barn on its road to ruin.

The barn’s two cupolas (removed from their dangerous rooftop perch many years ago) have gone to help restore this barn. There were also a couple of silos on the north side, but those were taken down in 2003 and the stones reused in garden paths throughout the area. The house was built in 1880, and is still in use today. Four generations of Mantles lived in that home.

In November of 2007 I received word from the current owner that the barn would be coming down "any day now." It actually took more than two months to safely bring it down, but by mid-January, 2008, nothing was left but rubble.

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Once there were silos.	Front of the barn, up close (Click here to enlarge picture)
From within the nursery (Click here to enlarge picture)	North side (Click here to enlarge picture)
North side collapsing on its own (Click here to enlarge picture)	The front goes first (Click here to enlarge picture)
Starting on the south side (Click here to enlarge picture)	Down at last (Click here to enlarge picture)

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