The Barn House

 ruins  Add category

 Upload a photo

This whimsical monstrosity was sewn together by Jim from parts of over 25 barns he has demolished. He dreamed of the Barn House in the late 1960s in high school, and entered his blueprints for it in the state fair. Actual construction started in 1972, on Hwy. 46 about 10 miles west of Spencer. Jim was soon tearing down barns and houses around the state to feed his obsession.

The Barn House contains 41 rooms, 15 stairways and 15 walking decks. There are secret passages and tunnels, peepholes, a room with 688 hats, a prayer alcove, and a "quickie" room (where a "man and woman can do their business."). Jim recommends that visitors sun themselves in the nude on his sun decks. He has continued building for the last twenty-five years -- his wife left him, and his son and daughter have moved away.

November 2002: The Barn House has burned to the ground.

*Information from: www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2098