From cowbells to wedding bells

Some people dream big dreams far into the future, but don’t combine them with practical planning.

Barb Lincoln put the dreams and plans together, and now, it’s all coming true. Her 26-year-old hopes are coming into reality.

“Twenty six years ago, when Chris and I got married, I told my new father-in-law about my wish to get married in a barn.” Barb said. “He said I was crazy but I never forgot my idea of something like this. We have been overwhelmed with all the stuff that had to be done to get to this point, but it all worked out okay.”

So, Barb and her husband, Chris Lincoln, got married 26 years ago. Barb became an interior decorator, and Chris rose to near the top of the management of Ryan Homes, one of the nation’s largest residential builders.

About three years ago, the couple came to Huntley and found a piece of old dairy farm property. There was a large old barn, a couple smaller barns, several other buildings, and the farmhouse looked charming but needed a lot of work before it could be occupied.

They saw the barn and imagined a modern but rustic wedding and banquet or meeting hall. They saw a corn crib and imagined a groom’s space for weddings. They saw the farmhouse and knew they convert it into a modern home.

Perhaps best of all, they found a community that welcomed them and their ideas. They went to work, doing what they do best.

Last September, hearing that the Lincolns were finished turning an old dairy farm into a modern event venue, the Sun Day decided to take a tour of the “new” facilities.

Barb Lincoln herself conducted it. The “reality” climaxes nearly two years of obtaining permits from county, state and area governmental units, and then hiring contractors to do the construction and landscaping.

This was not just a “tear everything old down and build new, modern facilities” project, Barb said.

“It was a careful adding of modern, necessary conveniences while preserving as much of the rustic, historical look as possible,” she said.

In the main, large barn, plumbing and bathrooms have been added, along with several multi-light chandeliers and a new wood floor. The barn’s original walls and ceiling have been preserved, as have cow stanchions in the lower level. The barn has a new roof and exterior siding, and much of the grounds on the two-acre site has been landscaped.

The old farmhouse has been extensively remodeled inside for the Lincolns new home, but the farmhouse retains much of its original exterior appearance. The six-foot-high pillars that are located on the edge of the farmstead along the west side of Route 47 have also been cleaned up and retained.

The bride’s and bridal party room in the basement of the barn, once a milk storage area, is new, and there’s a new groom’s room in an old corn crib on the grounds. One of the outbuildings has been converted into a cocktail party room. All of the outbuildings have been modernized, leaving old doors and windows in place wherever possible. In the big barn, there is a new, handicapped entry and elevator for easy guest entry and exit.

Throughout our tour, Barb showed the Sun Day how history was preserved but modern facilities added. Modern bathrooms inside preserved interior walls and the barn ceiling. Modern conveniences inside the farmhouse but the look of the old on the outside. You can get married here, and you can catch many glimpses of what dairy farms looked like more than a century ago.

Barb estimated that the project has cost $500,000 so far. Both Chris and Barb have backgrounds suited to this kind of project. Chris is a senior executive with Ryan Homes, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, and Barb is an interior decorator. She has decorated model homes for builders in the Chicago area for many years.

During reconstruction in the big barn, she said, workers uncovered a concrete slab in the ground with the name “John Conley” engraved on it, proving the original ownership of the barn and property. John Conley’s legacy to the Huntley area also is commemorated with Conley Road, a McHenry County route that runs just a few yards north of the Lincoln property.

Today, one of the first things a prospective bride says these days is, “I want to get married in an old barn.” The Lincolns are making this happen in Huntley. Barb says she has eight weddings booked in 2020.

“We will operate from May to November each year,” she said. “And we have received lots of inquiries from area residents and vendors for events.”

Preserve and modernize, the combination works at the Lincoln Farmstead.

A celebration and ribbon-cutting were planned in September. But the preparation for a celebration with friends, family, and Huntley village officials and the Chamber of Commerce had to be postponed. Just days before the ribbon-cutting scheduled in September, details got in the way. The Lincolns are now in discussions with Huntley village officials and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) regarding the entrance to the Farmstead property on the west side of State Route 47 at the north end of Huntley. The exact nature of these discussions has not been revealed, but Barb remains confident that the matter will be resolved as quickly as possible.

No one ever said dreams can’t sometimes be difficult, especially if they are really big.

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