Century-old N. Iowa barn will get old look in new location

DUNCOMBE, Iowa (AP) — After more than a century, a barn near the tiny northern Iowa community of Duncombe is getting a new home and a new look.

Matt and Libby Mitchell acquired the barn built in 1915 and watched nervously Thursday as it was moved about a mile over fields to a new location.

Matt Mitchell prepared a path over fields by driving a blade over the land, smoothing out ruts.

He now plans to restore the barn.

“We’ve talked about it for a long time,” he told the Fort Dodge Messenger. “We want it back to looking and working the way it did originally.”

Mitchell has restored two other barns and knows he’s in for a long process. Still, he said the structure is worth the restoration work.

“It’s been on the horizon over 100 years,” he said. “To tear it down or burn it would have been a tragedy.”

The Iowa Barn Foundation covered about half the moving expenses. The job was handled by Vote House Moving of Bradgate, in Humboldt County.

Once the barn is restored to its original appearance, Libby Mitchell said she has plans for it.

“We’ll put some cows and pigs in it,” she said.