Sawtooth Valley Retreat

This Dutch Barn was built just after the Revolutionary War in the upper Hudson Valley near the early Dutch Settlement of Fort Orange, later named Albany in 1664 by the British.

The timber frame with its massive virgin timbers, is an excellent example of New World Dutch barn construction, though it was built at the beginning of the industrial age as barns were start to be built for specialized uses. Prior to this time period, Dutch barns had many diverse uses like storing hay and grain in sheaves and housing livestock like cattle, oxen, horses, chickens, sheep and goats. Wagons and carriages were also stored in the barn along with harness and all the horse-drawn equipment. These were working buildings that farm families’ lives depended on.

Today there are very few of these grand medieval barns left standing, and their massive timbers and cathedral-like space will never be seen again as they are passing away from our landscape and history.