Preservation That Honors the Past and Looks Toward the Future

The Greater Philadelphia Preservation Alliance awarded Wissahickon Trails’ Four Mills Barn in Ambler with its Grand Jury Award in early June.  The Four Mills Barn, built in 1891, was designed by prominent Philadelphia architect of the Gilded Age, Horace Trumbauer, who is known for designing farms of the region and numerous iconic institutions such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Free Library of Philadelphia. Since 1976, the Barn has been Wissahickon Trails’ headquarters and community education space. 

In 2022, Wissahickon Trails undertook its renovation for two critical reasons: flood resiliency and an updated accessible facility for programming.  

Since the renovation, the first floor, which houses the reception area, new education room, public restrooms and “back-of-house” space, is now resilient to flooding using FEMA-compliant wet-floodproofing techniques. But despite the concentration on floodproofing, the first floor retains the feeling of the original building; The original barn windows and doors remain, and the heavy timber ceiling beams and posts remain visible celebrating the building’s original use as a barn.  

On the second floor, the demolition of the 1980s classroom enabled the new space to house a large loft more than two-stories high. A new ceiling was added over the entire area to facilitate insulation and the HVAC system. Additional features of the barn, such as the heavy timber framing and the built-in ladders, remain exposed, and much of the upstairs has been redone to incorporate original aesthetics or mimic the style.   

The renovated, accessible building allows us to continue to provide a launch site for exploring the trails, a community education center, a meeting space for our staff and supporters, and a place to excite the joy and wonder of our natural resources. We wanted all who visit this special barn to feel the possibilities that communing with and preserving our natural resources can provide for generations to come, and we feel this renovation facilitates that … and so did the Greater Philadelphia Preservation Alliance.. 

The Grand Jury award confirms our notion that not only is the redesign more functional, but it is stunning, thanks to the stellar work by a team committed to its preservation and our mission. Our sincere thanks to partners Daedalus Design Build, Kate Cowing, Architect, and Elevate Construction Partnership for helping us realize that the future of Four Mills Barn relied heavily on honoring its past. 

View before and after photos on our Facebook page.