JACKSON HOLE MAGAZINE

Bircher Barns: Form Meets Function in Wilson’s Gothic Icons

Built nearly a century ago by John Wesley Bircher, Wilson’s Gothic-style barns are both functional and elegant. With soaring, truss-free interiors designed to hold as much hay as possible, they feel almost cathedral-like inside. About seven of these barns remain, including two at the Teton Raptor Center—commissioned in 1943 and now on the National Register of Historic Places. “It’s obvious that Bircher designed and built barns to last,” says architect John Carney.