Stahl Farm, “Dairy of Distinction”

Stahl Farm, “Dairy of Distinction”

Stahl Farm, "Dairy of Distinction" Lu Donnelly

Stahl Farm, "Dairy of Distinction"

1876 barn; 1886 house, Joe Auman, carpenter. 1512 Marlwood Rd., 4.5 miles northwest of Somerset

The Stahl farm is visible from the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and most often noticed for the sign urging motorists to “Drink Milk” painted on the side of the milk house. This is one of more than 750 “Dairies of Distinction” in Pennsylvania honored for the exceptional maintenance of both their animals and farm buildings, and as a means of reinforcing the public's confidence in consuming dairy products. This farm has been in the Stahl family since 1782, when Henry Stahl purchased the land. The buildings date from the late nineteenth century. The large frame bank barn has Gothic-arched louvers, corner boards, and pilaster strips. Painted the classic red color for barns, with white trim, it holds eighty Holstein cows and matches the other outbuildings, from the drive-through corncrib to the smallest shed and garage. The central-hall-plan house is of double plank construction (see SO8) with Italianate paired brackets at the eaves. A contemporaneous house and barn on an adjoining farm were also built by carpenter Joe Auman.

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