It was a milestone in the decade-old campaign to preserve and relocate a piece of Carroll County history, as Bob Jones, chairman of the Marlin K. Hoff Memorial Log Barn Steering Committee, last week hosted a private reception at the Carroll County Farm Museum for donors who have dug deeply to help fund restoration of the 200-year-old barn.

At the Oct. 25 gathering, Jones thanked his deep-pocketed guests for their part in raising $335,000 toward the painstaking process of disassembling the barn, repairing and restoring its logs and beams and reassembling it at its new home at the Carroll County Farm Museum.

Jones noted that a few individual patrons have coughed up individual gifts of $5,000, $15,000 -- and in one instance even $50,000.

After inviting his guests to inspect the recently completed stone foundation and view a video of the restoration process, Jones urged everyone to dig even deeper.

"It turns out that 33 of the logs needed to be replaced rather than restored," he said. "That has exceeded our original budget."

Jones estimated that it will now cost approximately $430,000 to complete the restoration on a targeted May 1, 2009 deadline.

A June dedication ceremony is currently being planned.

The Hoff Barn is estimated to date back to somewhere between 1785 and 1795, and is considered to be unique in several regards -- including its height, design, craftsmanship and, of course, its durability.

Until early this year, the barn stood in the same field in New Windsor for more than 200 years, but this past spring was disassembled and will be moved to the Carroll County Farm Museum as part of a project to preserve and restore it. Once rebuilt, it will be part of a permanent display at the museum.

The entire project has been organized by a private foundation with the help and cooperation of Carroll County government and the Carroll County Farm Museum, but the budget does not include the cost of developing educational programs for school field trips to the barn.

Farm museum officials and the Hoff Barn Steering Committee hope to get grants for creating programs that will comply with third- and fourth-grade Maryland State Curriculum standards.

Jones also announced that the names of donors giving more than $500 to the barn project will be inscribed on a "recognition board" or plaque that will be prominently displayed at the barn.

Donations to the Hoff Log Barn Project can be mailed to: Hoff Log Barn, Box 124, Westminster, 21158. The Hoff Barn Project is a 501 (c)(3) corporations and donations are tax deductible.

For more information or to find out about the different levels of giving, call Bob Jones, at 410-848-7687 or Melvin Baile Sr., at 410-848-9589.

If you go

The Hoff Barn Project is ongoing at the Carroll County Farm Museum, and residents are invited to come by and see the progress.

Weather plays a part in the schedule, so visitors should to call the museum at 410-386-3880 for hours and to confirm if any work is currently under way. The farm museum is located at 500 S. Center St., Westminster.

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