The Yellow Barn is up for sale, and along with it a part of Conifer’s history.
Owner Corrine Meyers said she put the 2.48-acre property up for sale for personal reasons.
Structures on the parcel include the historic Yellow Barn and three other buildings at Highway 73 and Barkley Road. The listing price is $1.595 million.
Businesses located on the property are Aspen Specialty Foods and Catering, the recently closed Child Garden and a new store, Grow Your Own, which will open soon.
Though Meyers is looking to the future, the barn and its history are on her mind.
“I’m trying to avoid selling to a group that will alter or destroy the barn,” Meyers said.
She said she may have to sell to someone who has other ideas for the property if she can’t find a buyer who will honor the Yellow Barn’s history.
Jacque´ Scott, co-chair of the Conifer Area Council Historic Preservation Group, said the Yellow Barn was a landmark at Bradford Junction, the precursor to what is now Conifer. The Yellow Barn represents the historic heart of what today is called Conifer.
“We’re worried that new owners may not understand the value of the area,” Scott said.
Scott said the barn has a hayloft that once hosted community dances, political rallies and community meetings.
“We’re very activated by this news,” Scott said. “We are calling for anyone or anybody who might be helpful in getting us in the position to be the owner of Bradford Junction or help the new owners preserve the area.”
Members of the community have tried for years to raise money to purchase the barn and the property on which it sits. According to www.preservetheyellowbarn.org, a nonprofit organization was established for that purpose.
The barn was constructed in 1918 and has been a landmark since then, according to the website. Just to the south of the barn is a well dug during the Civil War. The well, a toll-road gate and stage stop provided necessary services to travelers and their horses heading west out of Denver to the gold diggings in the high country.
The historic barn's unique shape and construction indicate it probably was a Sears and Roebuck barn kit. In 2003, the Yellow Barn was designated a Jefferson County historic landmark.
From the High Timber Times, February 3, 2010
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