Stewardship Stories: Farewell to the Root Down Barn

Built sometime in the late 1870s, the Root Down Barn has been in use by local farmers for nearly 150 years. It is a community landmark for Pescadero, CA and a reminder of farming’s long history on the San Mateo coast. But time has taken its toll. Today the barn is nearly falling down. It is dark, dangerous and almost completely unusable.

In 1997, we protected the the Root Down Farm as part of the 6,857-acre Cloverdale Coastal Ranches. Since then, we have leased the land and the barn to small, direct market organic farmers.

But farms need barns, and working ones at that. They are the center point of the operation, the backbone of the business. They provide the space needed for a productive and sustainable enterprise. Which is why as part of the Farmland Futures Initiative, we are investing in infrastructure projects that will allow farming on the coast to thrive.

That’s why we are rebuilding this old barn. We started this spring with the demolition and later this summer a team of local craftsmen and volunteers from the community will rebuild the barn using locally sourced materials. It’s gonna be a proper barn raising and we’re excited to share this story with you.

We hope you enjoy this video, a first in a series on the rebuilding of this historic barn.

When you’re ready, click here to watch Chapter 2: Grown Here, Made Here, Built Here