-Photo courtesy of Iowa Barn Foundation
Built in 1958, the Boriskey barn on U.S. Highway 30 has been used for boarding horses over the years.

MARSHALLTOWN — Known as the “long horse barn on 30,” the Boriskey barn was built in 1958 featuring laminated curved rafters and native lumber in the horse stalls.

Owned by John and Mary Ann Boriskey, the barn now located on U.S. Highway 30 was built by Mary Ann’s family when she was 4 years old. Her father used the barn to house his horses and the ones he boarded.

“He showed Tennessee walking horses and boarded other people’s horses. He passed away when I was 20, and I of course grew up with horses, so my husband and I have just continued offering boarding services to others,” Mary Ann Boriskey said. “We married one-and-a-half years after he passed and we’ve always had horses in the barn.”

The Boriskeys have seven horses currently being boarded, as well as one of their own.

“We’re slowly trying to phase out our boarding business,” said Mary Ann Boriskey. “We’re in our late 60s and we don’t want to do this forever, but it does get us up in the mornings.”

The laminated rafters in the barn come straight down then curve around, Boriskey said. While the barn has withstood a couple of derechos and windstorms, she said there was only one that the barn didn’t survive.

“It happened when it was first being constructed, early spring if I had to guess,” Boriskey said. “A windstorm brought it down. But they put it back up and it’s been standing strong ever since.”

When the July 2011 derecho hit, the Boriskeys worked with the Iowa Barn Foundation to replace the shingles to ensure the roof’s design remained the same. They worked with a contractor who was familiar with the Iowa Barn Foundation’s rules for remodeling.

“He knew we couldn’t change the shape of the roof by putting steel on it because steel won’t bend. So he went vertically as far as he could before he then laid steel horizontally until he came to another spot where he went straight the rest of the way down the roof,” Boriskey said. “The Barn Foundation has been wonderful to work with, and we’ve been on the tour ever since.”

With its rich history and all of the love the family has poured into it, Boriskey said she hopes future generations are interested and willing to keep the barn standing and in the family.