Barber–Mulligan Farm is a historic farm located at Avon in

Livingston County, New York Livingston County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,834. Its county seat is Geneseo. The county is named after Robert R. Livingston, who helped draft the Declaration of Independence a ...

. The nearly farm includes a number of original buildings as well as many improvements. The most important cluster is the central farm complex which includes the main house, a

carriage house A ''carriage house'', also called a ''remise'' or ''coach house'', is a term used in North America to describe an outbuilding that was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and their related tack. Carriage houses were often two ...

, horse barn, and

corn crib A corn crib or corncrib is a type of granary used to dry and store corn. It may also be known as a cornhouse or corn house. Overview After the harvest and while still on the cob, corn is placed in the crib either with or without the husk. The ...

, all built in 1852 by Aaron Barber. The house is an example of late

Greek Revival architecture Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

. Not far from the main house is a

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...

tenant house built c. 1828. In July 2009, a lightning strike ignited a fire which destroyed the large connected complex of barns, the earliest of which were built in the 1870s. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying 19 photographs''
/ref> The house and earliest structures were preserved, as were all the modern dairy facilities. The farm boasts a cutting-edge

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

milking operation of nearly 2000 cows as well as acreage in

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

, and

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

. Aaron Barber Jr. purchased the land in 1840 and built his homestead by 1852, and his son Aaron III continued the agrarian lifestyle, well known for his prize-winning herd of short-horn cattle. He sold the land to the Mulligan family in 1920,"Aaron Barber to Edward Durand Mulligan." Liber 208 of Deeds. Livingston County Clerks Office, Geneseo, NY. p. 1. and the third and fourth

generation A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...

s are now running the operation. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980.

References

Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Greek Revival houses in New York (state) Colonial Revival architecture in New York (state) Italianate architecture in New York (state) Houses completed in 1850 Houses in Livingston County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Livingston County, New York {{LivingstonCountyNY-NRHP-stub