Red barns

August 31, 2005 8:24 PM

Being a city person, I am curious about why so many barns on the farms I see when driving around the country are painted red. Why is the color red seem to be the most common barn color? Or, is it just the farm neighborhoods I have been through? LAG
posted by lag to grab bag (7 comments total)

Google: Why are barns red?
1
2
Linseed oil and blood or rust.
posted by Coffeemate at 8:27 PM on August 31, 2005

Red paint used to be the cheapest.
posted by undertone at 9:26 PM on August 31, 2005

still is at farm stores
posted by jmgorman at 9:43 PM on August 31, 2005

... and now most barns are red because most barns have always been red. FWIW our barn has been white for the last 70 odd years.
posted by nathan_teske at 12:52 AM on September 1, 2005

"Google Answers" had a question recently about red country one room schoolhouses with nice samples -
posted by growabrain at 1:22 AM on September 1, 2005

Further to one of the points mentioned in coffeemate’s second link, above: here in Sweden a great many farmhouses, barns & vacation homes are painted with Faluröd: a red paint made in the copper-mining town of Falun, the use of which apparently goes back to the 16th Century. Faulröd has traditionally had the twin virtues of being dirt cheap and very durable.
posted by misteraitch at 3:29 AM on September 1, 2005

Well, my mom remembers when barns in Vermont were not painted at all. It was the talk of the village when one farmer painted his big barn (yes, red) back in the '50s. Now, most everyone does (if they're still farming).

You might be able to roughly date paintings of rural scenes by whether the barns are painted, if you knew the location of the scene depicted.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:17 AM on September 1, 2005