The three-story Round Barn was built in 1901 to improve agricultural efficiency on the farm. Hay from the top floor and silage from the central silo dropped through feed chutes to the middle level, where up to sixty cows could be stanchioned around the center for feeding and milking. Manure was shoveled through trap doors to the lower level and collected by horse-drawn wagons. Shakers built the first American round barn in 1826, and the labor-saving design enjoyed a brief period of renewed popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.