Around 1880, Benjamin Names, the industrialist son of a German immigrant, decided to build a "strong, sturdy barn that would last," on the northeast corner of 128th Avenue and Stanton Street in Ottawa County. The new barn measured 48 feet wide, 50 feet long, and 44 feet tall with a cedar shake roof and a basement built with local quarried stone. The upstairs was to serve as a hayloft with a separate corner bin for winter oats and corn. A new fangled trolley was installed in the peak so the wagon horses could be hitched to a pull rope that was used to hoist the hand cut hay off the wagon andsideways into the hayloft.     Benjamin also built a two story house for his bride to be, that house is still being used. When Benjamin brought his love out from Holland to see the fine new house she rejected both Benjamin and his marriage proposal, because he did not consult her on the new house construction. Benjamin lived out the rest of his life in that house with his two spinster sisters while his barn stood stoutly serving him and generations to come.     The huge white pine timbers swayed and creaked through countless thunderstorms and snow squalls while the cows bellowed their discontent and shifted uneasily in their lower level stanchions. On below zero winter nights, their breath created small clouds of steam as they huddled together for warmth under the feeble light of a lantern carried by their keepers that hayed them daily from the upstairs hayloft.     As with all things, time finally took it's toll on the barn. By the year 2000 the barn was doomed, the old ways of farming long gone. The third roof of tin had rusted through after 60 years of service. the stone foundations had collapsed in several spots allowing the old barn to slowly list sideways, a relic of another time, soon to fall over and be burned.     Why would anybody ever waste the time or money to fix up an old obsolete barn, they would have to be out of their mind to do such a thing! That's when we entered the picture with our vision, a vision of a barn as a centerpiece of a restaurant with an original country charm, a restaurant with farm fresh, flavorful food that reflects the bounty of that other time. "Great building, bad location" was a problem, so what did we do? We moved it. The picture says it all. It was 67 tons of fun. So with a "minor" relocation and a lot of tender loving care we bring to you, The Barn Restaurant. Benjamin would still be proud of his barn.