FRESHWATER BAY — As she nears 90 years, Lou Lawrence wants to make sure her organic farm is preserved for the future.
This month she is celebrating that her barn, built in the 1930s, was officially accepted into the state Historical Barn Registry.
The list commemorates agricultural properties in the state that are preserved for historic purposes, said Michael Houser, state architectural historian for the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
Lawrence and her late husband, Bill, in 1952 bought the farm on 704 Lawrence Road from the Stanley and Freda Hansen, who originally homesteaded the Freshwater Bay property and built the barn in 1936.
The farm was originally part of the Port Crescent and Dairy Tracts, which was in 25-year, second growth timber. The Hansens cleared about 30 of the acres for the farm.
The Lawrences raised both beef cattle and dairy cattle while also bringing up a family on the farm, Lou Lawrence said.
“We kept the milk cows in the barn and we still raise some [free-range] beef,” she said.
The five head of cattle are free-range and are currently used to sell beef, but mostly to friends and family, Lou Lawrence said.
Her daughter-in-law, Danielle — who is married to Lawrence’s son, George — said the family applied for the registry as it begins the process of making the 140-acre property a working farm again.
The registry, at times, has grant money to restore historical structures.
Right now the registry is out of grant funding, Houser said.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed that in the next Legislature’s session we will be allocated some more funding,” he said.
“We try and capture the information on historic barns and celebrate the history and raise the public profiles.”
Lawrence has placed the barn and the rest of the historic property in a foundation, said Danielle Lawrence.
“It is really important to Lou that the farm be preserved into the future and the foundation was the best way to do that,” she said.
The barn now touts the sign Willi-Lou’s in its standard cursive writing.
The sign came from Willi-Lou’s Ladies and Children’s Shop opened in 1960 at 105 W. First St. in downtown Port Angeles.
The landmark shop was run by Lawrence up until about 10 years ago, when she retired at age 80.
When the new owners changed the name, they brought the old sign over to Lawrence and installed it on the barn for her, she said.
She said in addition to the barn, she is also trying to preserve the historic garage, the outhouse and chicken coop.
“We turned the chicken coop into a playhouse for my granddaughter, but once the farm is running again, we can restore it,” she said.
“I also wanted to make sure and preserve all of the original structures.”
The family is hoping that once grant funds are restored to the registry that some funding can be given to help restore the barn, Danielle said.
“For us it is a great honor to be on the registry and we are also hoping that as we restore the property that some grant funding can be found to do that,” she said.
“The barn does need some work and hasn’t been a working barn — other than hay for the cattle — for a while.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
