The Barn at Firestone Blends History, Luxury
COLUMBIANA, Ohio – The Barn at Firestone Farms, an upscale rental hall for receptions, events and parties, has yet to open but it is already garnering attention.
The new $2 million-plus venue in Columbiana, near the intersection of state routes 14 and 7, will be the subject of an episode of “Renovation Road,” a Magnolia Network series that focuses on very old structures that have been faithfully restored and put back into use.
The Barn will begin to take bookings next year.
The beautifully restored 1880 barn, built as part of the Firestone family farm on the site, still has its original hewn-wood support beams. The heavy beams, well over a century old, are prominently visible and help to give the building’s interior its modern but rustic character.
A “Renovation Road” production crew, and show host Clint Harp, filmed at The Barn over the summer. The episode will premiere Nov. 18 on Discovery+, under the Magnolia Network and also on HBO Max.
In “Restoration Road,” Harp travels the country to spotlight the restoration of historical structures and explore their origins.
Harp, who owns a design company in Texas, previously appeared as the reclaimed wood-loving carpenter on HGTV’s “Fixer Upper.”
The Barn at Firestone Farms has a 4,400-square-foot banquet hall on its upper level with a glass window wall that opens onto a massive wooden deck and overlooks a landscaped retention pond. It can seat 250.
A smaller reception room with a bar and a commercial kitchen is on the lower level.
This 2,400-square-foot room has a capacity of 100 and could be used for pre-event cocktail hours or separate events, according to Jeremy Mackall, owner of the Firestone Farms housing development and Firestone Farms Town Centre.
MAINTAINING A LEGACY
The restoration was done by Hartville Barn Boys, a Hartville-based company that specializes in moving, reconstructing and renovating barns.
“Restoration Road” had contacted Hartville Barn Boys before the Firestone project began, asking if the company had any interesting projects coming up.
Mackall said no expense was spared in keeping the structure true to its original look. “We wanted to make it look [original] as much as we could,” he says. “We added windows to the back wall but from the front the exterior looks the same.”
The barn, he says, was an original feature on the Firestone family farm. The structure was closer to the highway when it was built, but was dismantled and rebuilt in its present location in 2015.
While the front of the structure retains its original look, windows and the deck were added to the rear side.
The historical nature of the barn and its painstaking restoration are exactly what “Renovation Road” looks for in a subject, Mackall says.
Like Firestone Farms and Town Centre, and the adjacent Ill Will Brewing Co., the land on which The Barn sits is part of the original Firestone family farm, where tire industrialist Harvey S. Firestone grew up.
Firestone is Columbiana’s most famous son and a major part of the city’s legacy, and Mackall keeps that history at the forefront in all of his developments.
“In everything we do, we try to honor the Firestone legacy,” he says. “We feel a big responsibility to the Firestones and Columbiana to keep the story alive.”
Mackall’s development of the land will continue after The Barn opens. Plans call for construction of a small shopping plaza closer to the intersection of routes 14 and 7.
A few hundred feet to the east of The Barn, a Smoke Worx barbecue restaurant will soon open in the same former farm building that also houses Ill Will Brewing.
RESTORATION WORK
Todd Schlabach, owner and president of Hartville Barn Boys, says his company has refinished approximately 50 barns but the Firestone Farms project stands out because of the amount of detail it required.
“We’ve done maybe four barns to this extent, and none with a commercial kitchen,” he says.
Schlabach has been in the barn restoration business all his life, learning it from his father when he was a child. “Over the years, we’ve grown to [also] lift, restore and rebuild barns,” he says, including reconstructing antique barns destroyed by tornadoes.
Planning for the Firestone project began three years ago, with The Barn Boys crew starting the task in February. “It was exciting,” says Schlabach. “We had a speedy timeline and used crew upon crew to make it come together.”
Schlabach’s company wrapped up the job in September.
The Barn at Firestone Farms will get its first use in December when Mackall throws a company Christmas party there. The building will be available for rentals in the spring. Click here or call 330 549 2165, option 7.
Pictured at top: Jeremy Mackall, owner of The Barn at Firestone Farms, stands inside the soon-to-open rental building. It will begin to take bookings next year.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
