Shelburne
Farms Breeding Barn
Built from 1889 to 1891 by William Seward Webb as the center of a grand
horse breeding operation, the Breeding Barn remained the largest
open-span wooden structure in America until 1939. Its life as a horse
breeding center, however, was short-lived. W. Seward Webb’s dream was
to breed a Hackney horse for Vermont farmers that was strong enough for
a plow and elegant enough for a carriage. The barn stabled stud
stallions, yearlings and mature horses and boasted an interior exercise
ring 375 feet long. With the rise of the internal combustion engine and
a lack of interest from Vermont farmers, however, the operation quickly
went under. By 1904, most of the horses were sold and in 1913, Seward
and Lila Webb deeded the southern 700 acres of Shelburne Farms, which
included the Breeding Barn and Old Dairy Barn, to their eldest son as a
wedding present. The Breeding Barn was used intermittently thereafter
for fox hunts, polo, hay storage and to shelter cattle.
