Starry Night Barn

The Story of Starry Night Barn

My sister was married in a magnificent barn in North Carolina in the 90’s. I love barns, old architecture and the challenge and opportunities of reimagining spaces and their purpose. When we moved back home in 2002, we found this old farmstead with seven historic buildings, including a giant barn in need of big love, and I knew this would be my Starry Night. It took 15 years of working and saving to slowly convince my husband, John, that restoring the barn was a smart idea. But he jumped with me. He’s been on a leap-of-faith ride with me since we became parents at 16. John is a political science professor and a rational, analytical thinker. I’m the dreamer with crazy ideas – the one that continuously puts everything on the line. We have this one life. Why play it safe?

Starry Night Barn is named after Vincent Van Gogh’s, “The Starry Night.” I spent a year with my best friends (to this day!) researching, reimagining, and reliving Van Gogh’s works as 8th graders in Olympics of The Mind. We wrote and acted in a play, recreated his works as backdrops, and immersed ourselves in his art and life story. For me, “Starry Night” represents that feeling of the incredible vastness of the world that yet cradles small towns and the special people in them. We are all bright lights in this beautiful world.