Endicott Park Children's Barn Renovations

The Friends of Endicott Park  mission is the preservation, conservation, and enhancement of our beautiful resource. Endicott Park.  We are raising funds to support the restoration of the Townley Family Children’s Barn. 

The Friends of Endicott Park’s  current initiative is raising the funds and providing assistance towards the renovation of the Children’s Barn. This unique historical structure is the only known example of this architectural design in New England. It is one of only three buildings left of the farm complex that was once the thriving “gentlemen’s farm” of William C. Endicott, Secretary of War under President Cleveland and a direct descendant of the Massachusetts Governor, John Endicott.

The children’s barn is home to our beloved horse and pony, goats, pigs, rabbits and chickens.  All our animals provide enjoyment and education for the visiting public. The barn provides subject matter for local artists and is a cornerstone in the preservation mission of our organization. This structure may soon provide one of the few remaining opportunities in this area for people of all ages to up close and personal with live farm animals. It’s difficult to quantify the importance of this building.

UPDATE: October 16, 2020

With your help, we have been able to complete the following:
- All windows replaced
- New front door and back door
- New wall in chicken coop
- New hay barn door
- Front of barn completely done with new paint

Remaining work:
- Monty's ramp
- Observation ramp on back of barn--making more accessible for handicapped as well
- New doors at Monty's ramp, chicken coop on back and other end of barn
- Remaining siding
- Paint remainder of building

We need an additional $25k to complete all the exterior renovations! Please consider a charitable contribution toward our efforts.

If you prefer to mail a check you can send to the Friends of Endicott Park at 57 Forest Street Danvers, MA 01923 (put "barn" in the memo line).

Thank you from the Friends of Endicott Park!

Windows Replacement
Crews have been diligently working on preparing new windows for installation in the Children’s Barn. Window replacement is the first phase in the barn renovation process and funded entirely by donations and memberships to the Friends of Endicott Park, Inc. Ongoing work is dependent on your generous contributions!


Below is a partial list of additional repairs needed (in no specific order).

Doors Replacement
This project is to replace all of the doors in the barn. The barn doors are handcrafted, and to retain the historic structure of the building these will have to be rebuilt by extremely skilled craftsmen. The front barn door has to be completely rebuilt by hand to restore it to historical accuracy, as well as other doors in the barn. 

Repair Rotted Roof
The lower roof over the grazing yard has experienced significant rot over the years. The roof is completely see through in places and will need to be repaired prior to re-roofing the building.

Side Animal Yard
The steps from the barn need to be replaced with a ramp to make exiting and entering the barn more accessible to the animals, some of who are advanced in age. 

Back Animal Yard
The viewing deck and ramp into the back animal yard needs to be rebuilt and brought up to current code regulations. While doing this the viewing deck can be made larger to accommodate more visitors who would like to enjoy visiting with the animals.  The back side of the barn has experienced significant damage over the years. Much of the back side will need to be stripped, repaired, and resided to bring the building back to its former glory. The stone walls that keep the animals in the yard have also suffered over the years. Several of these stone walls will require masonry work to rebuild their structures.

The Chicken Coop
The chicken coop has structural damage to the roof and the interior walls in need of repair. The boxes for the chickens also need to be rebuilt into proper hen boxes. Chickens prefer to lay their eggs in boxes that are clean, dry, relatively dark, and private. Rebuilding the hen boxes can improve the comfort of our resident hens.

The Interior
The drains in the barn need to be covered with safety grates to protect little feet. The metal roof support that was installed after the old one failed needs to be finished with matching wood to maintain the interior of the barn. One of the goals we are looking forward to in the future is to bring hot and cold running water into the barn. This will allow the rangers and volunteers easier access to feed the animals and clean up after the animals. Currently the closest access to running water is in the main visitor center (Carriage House). 

Exterior
Once all of the rot on the building is repaired, and the windows and doors are replaced the exterior of the building and trim can be repainted. By freshening up the paint job we can bring this building back to the historic emblem that it previously was.