Barn city

The Shelburne Museum in Vermont's Champlain Valley just south of Burlington is "a collection of collections," in the words of founder Electra Havemeyer Webb (1888-1960). Big stuff (including barns) houses little stuff: Hunting lodges, paddlewheel boats, 18th-and-19th century houses comprise a landscape of 37 buildings enclosing 80,000 objects.

Shelburne Museum Location: Route 7, Shelburne, Vt. Phone: 802-985-3346. Website: www.shelburnemuseum.org. Etch-A-Sketch anyone?: The Shelburne Museum is digging the toys out of its attic for an exhibit that will include hands-on play stations, toy-inspired workshops, yo-yo competitions, even an Easy Bake Oven Bake Off. July 4-Oct. 16: $6 adults, $3 children 6-14. Get directions

Electra Webb's passion for her father-in-law's carriage collection inspired her to found a museum. Webb found the perfect barn to house it, but the owner refused to sell. Undeterred, she started the ball rolling, or the barn raising, by commissioning a similar, horseshoe-shaped barn in 1947. Made from hand-hewn beams from 12 Vermont barns and stone from two gristmills, the new barn houses the original family collection as well as 150 additional wagons, sleighs, coaches, and fire engines. Called the Horseshoe Barn, it is 250 feet long and 32 feet wide.

Shelburne's selectmen were so impressed by Webb's industry, they soon donated the old town barn, built as a distillery around 1800. Webb took a good look at its derelict condition - and also hand-hewn timbers and rough planks - mulled for a while, and then decided to use it to showcase her textile collection. She moved and remodeled it, then covered the walls with maple, birch, and beech veneers in decorative patterns to set off glorious quilts and rugs.

The showpiece of Shelburne is the Round Barn, built in Vermont at the turn of the century and moved to the museum grounds in 1985 and 1986. Most dramatically, the upper part of the silo was moved by helicopter. Today, Round Barn is Shelburne's orientation center and houses collections of agricultural tools, machines, and vehicles.

Other barn buildings include the Diamond Barn, noted for its patterned appearance, and today featuring a museum bookstore; the 1840s Shaker Shed, used for elegant displays of baskets, wrought iron and tin whimsies; and a 200-year-old brick Blacksmith Shop.

Published in the Boston Globe Calendar's 1999 Wandering New England issue.