Silver Spring Farm Barn 1 - Integrated Project Dossier (2019)

Set in the open fields of the Ottawa greenbelt beside Moffatt house, Silver Spring Farm has been a local landmark since it’s construction in 1880 -1910 by the Bearman brothers. The U-Shape formed by the four barns and the gentle slopes of the gambrel roofs allow us to glimpse into the past about craftsmanship, utility, architecture, and culture. Although not used to the grandiosity it once was, the barn has adapted over the years to fit with the community's needs and has remained an integral part in the lives of locals. The barn has associated historic, architectural and scientific heritage values that contribute to its significance. From its original use as a farm with livestock and crops to its current use of a work program for the Ottawa and District Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, Silver Spring Farm has a diverse history. The shape and structure of the barn complex as a whole display a typical design and construction of barns at the time of construction, with the gambrel roofs and minimal ornamentation. Once with a beautiful silver spring running through the site, Silver Spring Farm, located at 1701 Richmond Road in the Ottawa Valley is now a federally designated historic site, in the hands of the National Capital Commission (NCC). On-site there are four connected barns, the Moffat House, and some newer facilities to meet the tenant’s current needs who provide accommodations to the developmentally delayed. For the purposes of this project we focused on recording Barn One otherwise known as the stable barn. This is the Integrated Project Dossier compiled by a group of undergraduate students of the Architectural Conservation and Sustainability Program (Engineers and architects) at Carleton University for the CIVE3207 (ARCN4100) Historic Site Recording and Assessment course in 2019.