Farm Couple Loves Their Silo-Mounted Gazebo

Farm Couple Loves Their Silo-Mounted Gazebo AG WORLD 26-2-22 Sixty nine-year-old Clarence Douma of Randolph, Wis., recently decided to scale down his farming operations. He sold the land but retained possession of the house and buildings that included a barn and silo. After helping some nearby farmers with their planting and harvesting, and making some bowling and golfing excursions, he decided he still had some spare time on his hands. So he went to work on the 30 by 60-ft. barn, which had a 45-ft. tall cement stave silo. With some help, he removed staves starting from the top and on down until the silo stood only 18 ft. above the ground. Then he built a wood and fiberglass gazebo, one piece at a time, on top of the silo. He also cut a hole in the barn roof and built a walkway from the barn to the gazebo. Clarence's brother Gerrit sent photos of the setup to FARM SHOW. "The buildings are located on a higher elevation than most of the surrounding countryside, allowing Clarence and his wife Shirley to enjoy the view on many summer evenings," says Gerrit. "Building the gazebo was a lot of work, as Clarence had to carry everything up one piece at a time. He says that if he could do it over he'd build the gazebo on the ground, and then use a crane to lift it onto the silo." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gerrit Douma, 603 S. Prairie, Charlotte, Mich. 48813 (ph 517 543-1255).

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