Historic Barn & Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania

She and her husband Mike and daughter Emilie raise beef cattle on their two farms. Miller owns an 1880s circa stone-sided standard Pennsylvania barn, along with a barn she and her family moved to their other property to save it from demolition, timber by timber. Her love of historic barns is only surpassed by her love of Border collies and Hereford cattle.

Ken’s interests lie in preserving our cultural history through our physical culture. His interest lies is categorizing structures by architectural style, dating them, documenting
construction methodology and building traditions associated with various ethnic groups. He performs evaluations, condition assessments and recommends repair and preservation treatments for property owners outside the government.

Ken is also a barn enthusiast and appreciates the importance of our agriculture heritage in the development of Pennsylvania and America. Barn designs express both the builder’s needs and their ethnic building traditions. Ken enjoys examining and documenting barns according to their date of build, tradition, type and subtype. He has assisted hundreds of property owners in the Pennsylvania and surrounding states.

She has been working in architecture since 1991, documenting and designing barns and period additions for Recycle the Barn People (PA), and then Antique Woods & Colonial Restorations (PA & NY), of which she was co-owner. In 1998 she founded Restoration Design, continuing the process of preserving antique structures and materials, providing design services that are knowledgeable of the traditional form, while remaining sympathetic to modern lifestyles. She endeavors to re-use vintage materials and architectural details when possible, while also incorporating new, green construction techniques. Melissa also designs traditional style additions for period homes, and has extensive experience in stable design.

In 2003 he was the recipient of inaugural “Bucks County Preservation Legacy Award” created in his honor for more than 20 years of leadership and dedication for the preservation of historic places and open spaces by the Bucks County Commissioners.  He is also the recipient of Governor, Senate and Pennsylvania of Representatives commendations for career achievements in conservation and preservation

She feels very strongly about preserving our heritage through historic preservation and environmental protection.  Future generations depend on us for protection and preservation of these precious resources before they are lost forever. She and has never forgotten Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the “Environmental Rights Amendment.

She was one of the leading proponents for the Township accepting ownership of the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse in 2002 and the preservation efforts of the Old Mill Bridge acquired by the Township in 1988.  She is a past board member of the Lower Saucon Township Historical Society and currently serves on the Advisory Board.

Roger W. Dietrich was born on rural Long Island and grew up in New York City, Philadelphia, and Southern Vermont. He worked for International Harvester Co., Inc. for 15 years followed by 22 years as a vocational agriculture teacher at a Chester County, PA Vocational Technical School. 45 years ago he purchased his current home in Montgomery County, PA; an 1850’s stone farmhouse with bank barn. Most of the upgrades were attempted on a learn-as-you go basis. He has been active in his community over the last 20 years; Co-Founding the International Harvester Collectors of Southeastern PA, Chapter 8, as well as serving on the board and as an assistant exhibitor for the Goschenhoppen Historians’ Folk Festival. His current interests include a son and two daughters, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandson. He enjoys local Pennsylvania German History, vintage farm equipment, and continuing to improve his property and buildings.

Bob’s extensive travel in North America and Europe spurred his interest in vernacular architecture which produced two major articles on the Pennsylvania barn in Pennsylvania Folklife magazine in 1980 and 1983. More years of travel and research produced his classic book, The Pennsylvania Barn, Its Origins, Evolution and Distribution in North America, released in 1992. His continued research has been published in a revised edition in 2002.

John’s current interests lie in making documented historic records more accessible to the public and to educate people on the importance of preserving the existing physical infrastructure. He believes the ideal way to educate the public is to make information related to historic protection and records of documented properties more readily available to the public in a web-based format.

While John is not specifically a barn enthusiast, he is very much interested in seeing traditional farmsteads and the surrounding farmland protected for future generations of farmers. John also is interested in old homes having rebuilt his 100 year old home and assisted a friend in restoring several Victorian Era homes. In his spare time John enjoys gardening, hiking and biking. John is the webmaster of the site and can be contacted at john AT pahistoricbarns.org

Historical Society, he started to locate and document local barns. He now has approximately 300 barns of special interest documented and photographed, including decorated barns, log barns, and split barns. First appointed to the HBFF of PA Board of Directors in 2009; elected to a three-year term in 2010.