San Luis Obispo Octagon Barn


The Pereira Octagon Barn of San Luis Obispo is a historically and culturally important structure on the Central Coast of California. It was built in 1906 by Henri LaFranchi, John Damaso, and a third, unknown man. Since there were no other octagonal barns in the area, the builders may have worked from patterns of octagonal construction in farm journals or catalogs.
The first user of the barn was Italian-Swiss immigrant Antonio Stornetta, who leased the barn for his Santa Fe Dairy operation until 1917. Joaquin and Josephine Pereira, with Josephine's sister Eleanor and Eleanor's husband Manuel Garcia, purchased the property in 1920 and made it part of an adjoining dairy operation in the Los Osos Valley. They were typical of many first- and second-generation Portuguese Americans, who followed in the footsteps of the Italian-Swiss in the dairy business. The Pereira-Garcia operation was called the Home Dairy. It had a pasteurization and bottling plant at 719 Higuera Street and made daily milk deliveries throughout the city of San Luis Obispo. Dairy operations continued into the 1950s, when small-scale dairy operations were no longer economically viable. The barn then supported a small-scale cattle operation and some row-crop farming. The property was purchased in 1994 by John and Howard Hayashi, who three years later entered into a lease agreement with the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County. The Land Conservancy has restored the barn, which will be used as a community gathering place
The Octagon Barn is made with redwood timbers and has a new, custom shingled replacement redwood roof. There is a cupola on top reaching over 40 feet above the floor. The barn is accompanied by a 2,000-square-foot Milking Parlor and a Calf Barn.

Significance

The Barn is important for four reasons:
Restoration of the barn began in 1997, when the barn was near collapse. Structural improvements have been completed. Current activity concentrates on bringing the Barn into the community as a fully permitted gathering space.
The Octagon Barn Center will be a community gathering place to promote local history, agriculture, recreation, and sustainability. It will host events such as fundraisers, dances, movies, music performances, weddings, family reunions, and festival-connected activity. A windmill, a small restored wetland, photovoltaic power, parking for over 100 cars, and landscaping with hundreds of trees are planned.
The San Luis Obispo Octagon Barn Center is located at 4400 Octagon Way, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.