To quote Idaho preservationist Frank Eld, “Everyone loves a barn.”

Barns have long been the backbone of Idaho’s economy. They’ve helped put food on the table, brought new life into the world and served to keep families whole. You can find them around every turn, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Many are still functional. Others have seen better days. Then, there are the ones that have been given a new lease on life and repurposed.

Any way you look at it, barns just seem to capture our imagination. Barn owner Nancy Tyrell sums things up this way, “Oh my goodness, a barn is iconic. It just draws stories out of people.” So, the team at Outdoor Idaho decided to hit the road looking for some of those stories. What we found were some unique, practical and historic “Barns of Idaho.”