The Parker Barn

The Parker Barn

10705 Lima Center Road, Manchester MI

Built by William H. Schlicht in 1923

This barn resides at the intersection of style and functionality.  It is a local artistic icon, and has been featured in newspaper articles, a magazine article, and a county driving tour.  It is regularly photographed and admired by passing motorists because of its unique architecture and good looks.

The farmland and use of the barn was first leased to James Vershum in 1971, and now to his son Mike.  Mike has been in and around this barn for more than half of its 99 year life.  This barn was originally designed to house lambs.  It remains a working barn, housing feed steers and hay.

The main barn features 2 rounded ends which are open from the roof all the way to the basement floor.  It has a main floor, a basement and 10 bays.  The middle of the main barn, namely the straight section (starting after the west rounded end and extending 96’ east) started out as a pre-civil war gable roof barn.  In 1923, the roof was removed.  It was made taller and longer, and the rounded ends, lean-to, and gambrel roofed granary were added.  The attached lean-to has no internal wall to separate it from the main barn, so it feels like one big uninterrupted space.  The granary has 3 floors; plus a basement and features a cup style, belt driven grain elevator.    

Interview Notes

The Parker Barn

10705 Lima Center Road, Manchester, MI

Date of Interview:       9/12/2022

Interviewer:                 Mark and Susie Jenkins

Interviewee:                Mike Vershum

1.)  Plat Map Ownership Record (Bridgewater Township Section 15)

1976    Theo H. and Florence M. Parker

1970    Parker and Schlicht

1967    Parker and Schlicht

1915    William H. Schlicht – bought the farm in 1905.  He was Florence Parker’s father.

1896    James Martin

1895    James Martin

1874    William Aulls Estate

1864    William H. Aulls – He was Bridgewater Township Clerk in 1850.

1856    Arvill Dropt – this entry is illegible and therefore subject to change.

2.)  Notes from Published Stories regarding this Famous Barn!

  • Listed on the 2007 “A Washtenaw County, Michigan Heritage Driving Tour” Tour 3: Historic Barns.  The brochure says “This large gambrel roofed dairy barn with rounded east and west ends represents the creativity and innovation of the farming community.  Local tradition maintains that the rounded portions of the barn allowed for horse teams to be turned around indoors.”   
  • Featured in an Ann Arbor News article published on July 20, 1999. It reads “Florence Parker’s barn along Lima Center Road in Bridgewater Township was built in the early 1900’s by her father, William H. Schlicht.  Most of the timber came from their own land.  The 3 story structure has 120 windows and is 175 feet long.
  • Featured in the spring 2021 edition of the “Chronicle” published by the Historical Society of Michigan. It reads “Built in 1923 for William Schlicht, a dairy farmer and teacher, the Bridgewater Township barn is truly one of a kind.
  • It has 3 stories above the basement, which is rare.
  • A section with a hipped-gambrel roof.
  • Semi-circular walls at both ends, making it unusually eye catching.
  • A wing with a standard gambrel roof.
  • An attached granary.

The homesteading of the Manchester, Michigan area – where this barn is located – goes back to the early 1800’s.  Today the farm is owned by a descendent of the Schlicht family and it is leased.  The working round-ended barn currently houses cattle, in addition to providing crop and equipment storage.

3.)  Features of the Historic Barn – from our interview with Mike Vershum

  • Built in 1923 – it will be 100 years old next year!
  • Barn may be in Manchester, but it is in the Clinton school district!
  • Barn resides at the intersection of style and functionality! It is beautiful, artistic, and unique.  It is a working barn.
  • There are 10 other historic farm structures on this property. The grounds are very well maintained.
  • There are 3 distinct segments of this barn:
  • The main barn:
    • Runs east and west. The east end faces the road and attracts a lot of photographers and other admirers on their way by.
    • 2 floors: a first floor for hay storage, and a basement to house animals.
    • The rounded ends are on this main barn.
    • It is 152’ long (not counting the 2 rounded ends). It contains 10 bays (8 are 14’ long (4 on either end) and 2 are 20’ long (in the middle)).
    • The rounded ends are open from the roof all the way to the basement. These rounded ends probably never served a practical purpose but they are very cool, stylish, and for sure a crowd pleaser!
    • The middle of the main barn, namely the straight section starting with the west rounded end and extending 96’ toward the east end, began as a pre-civil war gable roofed barn! In 1923, the roof was removed, it was made taller and longer, and the rounded ends, lean-to, and gambrel roofed granary were added.
    • There is no curved wood in the structure of the rounded ends. Short pieces cut on exact angles create the rounded effect.
    • The hay trolley, track, and slings are still in place.
  • The attached, integrated lean-to:
    • Runs east and west, as well. Is on the south side of the main barn.
    • Runs the length of the straight section of the main barn.
    • No internal wall separates the main barn from the lean-to so it feels like one large open space inside.
  • The granary:
    • Runs north and south. Is on the north side of the main barn.
    • 3 floors plus a basement. You can walk into the 1st floor of the granary from the 1st floor of the main barn, and you can walk into the basement from a small attached building on the north end of the granary.
    • Gambrel shaped roof.
    • “Grain Leg” a cup style, belt driven grain elevator is in the granary.
    • Square dormers on both sides of the structure.
  • Items that all 3 segments have in common:
    • Field stone foundation with raised ramps. The ramped up side is to the northwest of the combined structure.
    • Barn was originally designed to house lambs. Two years later, the barn became home to a variety of farm animals.  The barn is now home to feed steers, and hay storage.
    • Vertical, wood external siding is painted red with white windows and stripes on the doors.
    • Hand hewn timbers, mortise and tenon joinery with wooden pegs.
    • Wood planks in the rafters.
    • Ribbed steel, green roof.

4.)  Personal / Family Information

  • Florence Parker and her husband Theodore have passed away. They had no children.  She left the property to her nephew Theo on her husband’s side of the family, who has also passed away.  The property is now owned by Theo’s son Greg Parker.  Therefore, the farm has been in this family since 1905.
  • Theodore Parker came to work on this farm in 1925. Not only did he find work, he found his future bride, in William H. Schlicht’s daughter, Florence.
  • This farmland and use of the barn, has been leased to Vershum Farms since 1971 (51 years). James Vershum and now his son Mike have been in and around this barn for over half its life!  Mike knows every inch of this barn and is a fine tour leader, caretaker, and proud representative of the Parker barn property.  Mike currently farms several farms and cultivates a total of 1400 acres.