Description of Historic Place

The Horse Barn is a rustic style, two-storey, rectangular log structure with dark brown, peeled log walls, white trim and a gambrel roof supported by log purlins. Constructed before 1939, the Horse Barn is an important component of Yoho Ranch, and is located in Yoho National Park. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Horse Barn is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical value:
The Horse Barn is associated with the National Parks Warden Service and the long-standing role of horses in the conduct of warden patrols in the mountain parks. A support facility for the Ya Ha Tinda ranch, the primary equestrian center for the National Parks since 1918, the Yoho Ranch is a self-contained, single function complex that provides summer pasturage and an operational base for the horses that are involved in warden patrols in Yoho National Park. Originally constructed to accommodate dairy cattle at a nearby dairy farm, the Horse Barn is associated with the establishment of the Yoho Ranch as one of the original ensemble of permanent buildings relocated to the ranch in the early to mid-1950s. The Horse Barn is also associated with Slim Haugan, a well-known horse trainer in the western Parks Canada community.

Architectural value:
The Horse Barn is a good example of the rustic style of architecture. Purpose-designed to serve as a barn and proven to be extremely adaptable, the building features a central corridor plan with stalls to either side, and a large entrance door. The Horse Barn is constructed of mainly natural, local materials, and is a well-crafted, horizontal log building with square dovetailed corner joints.

Environmental value:
An essential component of the Yoho Ranch and the largest building on the site, the Horse Barn's scale, design and materials reinforce the picturesque character of the ranch in its mountain park setting. The Horse Barn is located on a level site on the northern side of the ranch property bordered by mature native spruce trees, and it commands a view of the horse paddocks, pasture, and cabin. The Horse Barn is a well-known visual landmark to local residents and to tourists traveling on the Trans Canada Highway.

Sources:
Edward Mills, Yoho Ranch, Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Building Report 00-002.

Horse Barn, Yoho Ranch, Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Heritage Character Statement 00-002.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Horse Barn should be respected, for example:

Its role as an illustration of the National Parks Warden Service and the long-standing role of horses in the support of warden patrols in the mountain parks, is reflected in:

-the building's rustic design which became part of the architectural character of Canada's Rocky Mountain park facilities form the 1880s onwards.

Its rustic style, functional design, and high quality, local materials and indigenous building methods as manifested in:

-the simple, symmetrical and well-proportioned composition of this rectangular barn which features a large
entrance door, second level hayloft doors, and a gambrel roof;
-the design and adaptability of the central corridor plan with stalls on either side;
-the use of natural, local materials such as the use of horizontal, peeled log wall construction, and the use of
peeled logs for the construction of the roof purlins;
-the well-executed rustic detailing such as square dovetailed corner joints.

The manner in which the building reinforces the picturesque character of the mountain park setting as evidenced in:
-its scenic location in the Yoho Valley, on level pasture land bordered by mature native spruce trees;
-the compatibility of its rustic design, and natural materials with the picturesque wilderness setting; and,
its visual prominence owing to its location, substantial scale and gambrel roof.