A good friend of ours, Kevin Wilbeck, recently found an article he has started for the Raccoon River Valley Trail. It was to entice buyers for property along the trail, but he never finished it. This article was about the exact chuck of land that became known as Two Barn Farm. I would have sworn he wrote our thoughts on it. Here it is now:

The Bike Retreat

There is this strand of DNA that I inherited from my dad that I am sure is strongly tied to his farm upbringing. This is the gene that sometimes keeps me up at night. Regardless of the condition of anything used or discarded or even new this gene lights up a portion of my brain that says “Hey you could do something with that!” If you moved this over there, fixed that, modified this, and used that piece gathering dust in the barn you could turn this into something with a brand new purpose.

This gene has instructed me to convert feed bin supports into a platform and ladder for a zip line, a windowless feed shed into a comfortable bike shop; a boar’s shed into a camping shelter, and a four door Pontiac into a 150 mph race car. It is currently instructing me to start gutting the inside of our corn crib so that it can be converted to a guest house someday. This same thought process occurs when I look at some of the properties available along the Raccoon River Valley Trail.

There is this barn on the Bill Ecklund property next to the trail offered by Marso-Peckhamn Realty that intrigues me. It intrigues me enough that I have visited it three times. The barn has this amazing hay loft with curved laminated beams that leaves the entire space void of structural supports. Sure it’s a little rough but it is also solid and straight. So what has my little gene turned this into? The first floor would have four bedrooms but the loft would be one large living, dining, and kitchen “cathedral”. Since the loft is so tall you might have a “floating” upper deck or stairs up to a quiet reading or bedroom loft. Now picture big, beautiful Gothic style (think church windows) windows at each end of the loft that mimic the curve of the roof.

Imagine you and your friends sitting in this cathedral, sipping your favorite beverage after a satisfying day on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. After dinner you can spend a little time outside on your three acre recreational playground. For you that may be a garden, or putting green, or ball field, or horseshoe pits, or volleyball, or campfire pit, or whatever. Or maybe you just completely detoxify in the quiet created by a hammock and the lack of noisy surroundings. Now imagine that people would pay you for the opportunity to stay in this great abbey on weekends when you aren’t using it. Or better yet convert the curved roof corn crib on the east end of the property to your permanent residence so you can bike every day and offer the barn as a full-time rental.

A lakeside cabin is great if you can find an affordable one and have a boat. A mountain condo is great if you enjoy skiing and like flying out to it a few times a year. If you really like bicycling how about a bike retreat with access to over one hundred miles of trail, more than a dozen great towns, and located within 45 minutes of Des Moines? If I had a rich uncle I would be sitting in this great vaulted space right now.