Homestead Dairy Barns

Built in 1928 by the Virginia Hot Springs Company, the Homestead Dairy Barns are a group of seven buildings on a twelve-acre rise at the eastern edge of Warm Springs in Bath County, Virginia. They supplied milk and other farm products to The Homestead resort. A Main Barn with attached tile silos anchors the complex, with a Bottling Building, Milking Barn, Calving Barn and Ham House arranged around it. The Herdsman's Cottage and Bull Barn sit on a knoll across the farm road. All are painted white with dark green trim, mostly stucco over frame or concrete block, with metal shingle roofs. Colonial Revival and Craftsman details appear throughout, including semi-elliptical vents with wooden keystones and Dutch doors. The complex was found significant for its architecture and its well-preserved, cohesive layout, which reflects dairying practice of the second quarter of the twentieth century. Some buildings have been altered, including a 1960s addition to the Ham House and the conversion of the Bull Barn to living quarters.