Cocking receives barn award at presentation

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Apr 12, 20180

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Paul Cocking receives award

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Line at barn presentation

Paul Cocking, left, accepts a 2018 State Historic Officer Award from Michael Houser.

More chairs, and then more chairs were brought out at The Center Wednesday night in Colfax, April 4, as a large crowd gathered for a presentation on the Washington Barn registry and northwest barns, given by Michael Houser, Washington’s state architectural historian.

The evening began with the 2018 State Historic Officer Award for barn rehabilitation given to Paul Cocking of Colfax, who owns the 1919 Kramlich Barn on top of the hill just east of town. It is now being restored with a state Historic Preservation barn grant.

“It’s in pretty good shape,” Cocking said. “It’s in better shape than I am.”

Houser then proceeded with a Powerpoint slide show of types, styles and individual features of barns of the northwest — from the cupola on the top of a “salt box” barn to the Shawver truss on a “Gambrel” — also showing old catalog pages and advertisements for barn kits from which many were built.

Houser concluded with before-and-after shots of barns restored with the Heritage Barn Initiative matching grant program, which began in 2007. Many were complete overhauls, including taking a wilted and leaning structure and lifting it back up and pulling it taut again.

This year, $515,000 is available to give to barn owners willing to go half-and-half with the state foundation to do work such as stabilize a barn – which must be at least 50 years old – replace a roof or other work.

The Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation grant program has so far funded work on 85 barns in Washington, for a total of $1.7 million in 11 years. Besides barns, other farm buildings are eligible for the program as well, from outhouses to sheds, silos and more.

Applications for this year’s grant awards are due by May 17.

People line up to speak to state architectural historian Michael Houser.