And not just any barn. This one has done some traveling—in late January of this year the barn was transported all the way from Hostetter Road and Capitol Expressway in San Jose, where it served for some 85 years as part of the Bianchi orchard.

It's a working barn, and always has been. Throughout the better part of the 1900s brothers Domenic and Santino "Sonny" Bianchi grew prunes, walnuts and cherries and did a good business drying fruit from other local orchards as well. When Domenic and Santino died in the 1990s, their sister, Clara Bianchi, took over the management of the San Jose property.

At the time, Sunnyvale's Orchard Heritage Park, a 10-acre apricot orchard owned by the city and managed by longtime farmer Charlie Olson, needed a barn to house its equipment, and Bianchi had another, newer barn on her property. In May 2001 she approached Sunnyvale city staff about donating the older barn and later agreed to pay for its relocation and future maintenance costs as well.

"When I went up there and saw that orchard and how beautifully it was preserved I had confidence about the barn going to that place," says Bianchi. "The barn held real sentimental value for me, but by going to the park it could be put to good use and also help educate future generations."

Dismantled in 10 days and trucked up to Sunnyvale in pieces, since January the barn has been gradually reconstructed to its original form. Approximately 1,800 square feet, it's petite by today's standards, its whitewashed, rough-hewn redwood planks capped by a washboard metal roof and an antique weather vane that once sat atop an Olson family barn. The weather vane is the only feature not part of the original.

The barn and the orchard are an extension of the Orchard Heritage Park Interpretive Exhibit housed at the nearby Sunnyvale Community Center Arboretum. The exhibit chronicles the changes that have transformed Santa Clara Valley from a primarily agricultural economy to one dominated by the high-tech industry.

The orchard was part of land the city of Sunnyvale purchased for the community center in 1975. Two years after the purchase, Olson, whose family has operated orchards in Sunnyvale since the late 1800s, cleared 10 acres of diseased and dying trees and planted the more than 800 apricot trees that today comprise the park. Olson has worked the land ever since, and those who tour the exhibit are often brought out for a firsthand glimpse of a working orchard.

Laura Babcock, who in her capacity as chairwoman of the Sunnyvale Heritage Museum project team was asked to head up the barn relocation project, agrees that the barn is not only practical from the standpoint of maintaining a working orchard but also because it represents the city's agricultural past.

"Barns have a very simple, unpretentious architecture," she says. "They are one of a handful of symbols that immediately evoke our national heritage, and they provide a very strong identification to our agricultural heritage in the valley."

Sunnyvale Mayor Julia Miller echoes her sentiments. "The Bianchi barn is an important donation that contributes to Sunnyvale's history," says Miller. "It will allow future generations to understand and appreciate our roots."

A dedication ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 17 at 5:30 p.m., followed by a barbecue and old-fashioned barn dance. Donations will be requested at the door. Orchard Heritage Park is located adjacent to the Sunnyvale Community Center at 550 E. Remington Drive. For more information, call 408.749.0220 or email l_babcock@earthlink.net.