Considered the first great barns built in this country, the Dutch Barn is among the oldest barn types in North America (Eric Arthur and Dudley Witney, The Barn).  They feature a gable-sided wagon entrance, broad, often steeply pitched gable roof, which extends very low to the ground and one or two stock doors on either side of the wagon entrance.  The entrance of a Dutch Barn also usually has a small projection, called a pentice or pent roof, above it.  The doors are typically Dutch which are doors split in two with the top and bottom pieces able to swing independently.  The result is a combination of both massiveness and simplicity (NPS Preservation Brief 20).

While a true Dutch Barn is rare, two listed barns in Spokane County exhibit some of the features associated with the type.  The Babb Farm and Windsor Barn could both be considered a vernacular version of the Dutch Barn.  The Babb Farm has a center-gable wagon entrance that is flanked by two stock doors and possesses a Dutch side door.  The Windsor Barn has low eaves and a somewhat off-center gable entrance with a stock door.  The Windsor Barn’s unique shape is due to the addition of a lean-to which breaks the roof line.