WOLCOTTVILLE, Ind. (WANE) — After receiving state recognition last week for their efforts to preserve a farm that predates the American Civil War, the Evers family received another gift Monday from an Ohio man.
The gift in question is a model barn designed after the main barn that has stood on the Plainview Farm homestead for over 100 years.
The architect behind the model, William Woodcox, passed away shortly after finishing the model, but his son, David, wanted to pass the model on to the Evers family so that it could be in its rightful place.
“It just feels right. It feels like it finally came full circle,” David said. “I feel like it’s where it should be. It will be preserved with their amazing property and their amazing history.”
William first learned about the barn after working on a model of a property near the farm in Wolcottville, David said.
Although William usually worked on models through paid commissions, David said his father admired old barns and intended to keep the Plainview Farm model.
“It’s a passion that he had,” David said.
The model stayed with David’s family for over a decade until he learned about the recent awards Plainview Farm received through a WANE 15 article, which then led to the model changing hands Monday.
Other than the barn’s name — which used to say “Plainview Dairy” about the dairy cows Plainview Farm used to raise — the model portrays an accurate representation of the homestead’s main barn in the late 2000s, both outside and inside.
“He had an amazing talent to be able to look at things and just see the incredible detail, all the work that went into building those structures and the craftsmanship,” David said.
After handing over the model to the Evers family, David said he was able to tour the homestead and see the inspiration for his father’s model in person.
model of the Plainview Farm barn (Photo provided by David Woodcox) 
Back side of the Plainview Farm barn model (Photo provided by David Woodcox) 
Photo of inside the Plainview Farm barn model (Photo provided by David Woodcox) 
Photo of inside the Plainview Farm barn model (Photo provided by David Woodcox) 
David Woodcox (far left) poses for a photo with some of the Evers family at the Plainview Farm homestead (Photo provided by Emily Evers)
“It’s just amazing to see, and you can feel the history that goes so far back,” David said.
Overall, David said he is glad that his father’s work will now be able to serve the Evers family and Plainview Farm.
“I think that if he could see it now, his heart would be full,” David said.
Now, although the model is no longer in David’s possession, he said he gained something in return by meeting the Evers family: “some very good friends.”
“I’m just so glad that it all worked out,” David said.
