Old county barn may be new winery

Developer Tom Swarthout has a passion for old barns and he’s close to bringing one to his Highview Group’s Cedar Vineyard development in Port Washington.

The Ozaukee County Board on Wednesday was expected to approve Highview’s purchase of an old deteriorating storage barn in Tendick Park in the Town of Saukville.

Swarthout, a former carpenter from Illinois, knows this gabled roof barn is special. Forty-foot-long timbers span the barn’s interior.

“They’re all handmade with axes,” Swarthout said. “That’s what’s so remarkable. There’s no sawmill. It’s all done by hand.”

Highview wants to buy the barn for $10,000. Swarthout said he already has a salvage expert lined up to take it down and rebuild it at Cedar Vineyard, a proposed subdivision to be built on a 74-acre parcel north of the proposed Clay Bluffs Cedar Gorge Nature Preserve that Ozaukee County and the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust are working to purchase. The development calls for residential housing, vineyards and open space.

Swarthout had been looking for a barn to serve as a winery and a homeowners clubhouse. The one at Tendick Park is a perfect fit and the purchase would come at a perfect time.

The barn is estimated to be 140 years old, Swarthout said, and is starting to come apart.

“If we don’t take it and repurpose it, I think it will end up getting dismantled,” he said.

The barn’s new purpose would create a special ambiance for wine enthusiasts near and far, with a tasting room and fireplace. It would also host dinners and can hold up to about 100 people, Swarthout said, and there would be plenty of room to put a tent next to it for larger gatherings.

An adjacent parking lot is slated to hold 100 vehicles, and bathrooms would be up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

“It can accommodate a big venue,” Swarthout said.

Although the barn has started to fall apart, Swarthout estimated that about 95% of it could be reused.

“Our intent is to leave the existing beam structure in place and the rafters in the ceiling,” he said.

Details give the building its charm.

“It just has great character,” Swarthout said. “You could see where the cows were chewing on the side of the building. Because it’s beat up, it’s special.

Swarthout’s father-in-law was born and raised on a farm in the small town of Polo, Ill., outside of Rockford.

“He had a spectacular barn there as well,” Swarthout said. “I think barns are really special. Most of them have been removed or burned down. Because of age, some have fallen in on themselves.”

The fact that the barn is from Tendick Park five miles from the proposed development would make the winery all the more special.

“It’s part of the whole history of the area,” Swarthout said. “It wouldn’t make any sense to get a barn from New York State.”

The barn would be placed on the west side of Lakeshore Road. Glass doors would allow travelers on Highway C to see inside.

The outside skin has to be replaced. A top would be put over exposed shingles and the barn would be insulated.

“These barns weren’t built to be heated or air conditioned,” Swarthout said.

Information about the barn’s history will be displayed in some form, and “We will certainly pay homage to the Tendick family,” Swarthout said.

He said Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Department Director Andrew Struck had to check with the Tendick family about selling the barn.

The county used the barn to store a host of items, including benches, lawn-mowing and snow-removal equipment, temporary outdoor lights and a tractor.

Highview has offered to store the county’s equipment at a private facility about a mile from the barn until it decides where to keep the items.

The county would put the $10,000 into its Planning and Parks Department’s capital fund to be used for a new maintenance facility.

If the sale was approved, Swarthout said, he hoped to have the barn dismantled and rebuilt by the end of summer.

The barn would serve as more than a marketing tool for the winery.

“It really is salvaging a piece of history,” Swarthout said.

Cedar Vineyard includes the development of 45 single-family lots directly to the north of that property between Highway C and the Lake Michigan bluff. 

About a third of the property will be residential, a third will be vineyards that will serve a winery planned for four acres on the west side of Highway C currently owned by the Tillman family, and the remaining third will be open space, including two miles of public bike and pedestrian trails and bluff and beach access.

In April, the city’s Common Council approved a developer’s agreement and modifications to the tax incremental financing district needed to support the development.

“It has been a long journey and we’re finally at the finish line,” Swarthout said. “This (barn) is one important piece of the puzzle.”