Schleich Barn #42028: A Passion Project

So I got into this hobby by my parents buying me farm animals, and by and large that was my favorite game as a young child; to set up my farm toys. I remember seeing this barn in a catalog as a child and I wanted it so badly but was also too expensive so I never got one. Several years ago I found this one at a garage sale and bought it for 20$. It was missing a few parts and the wood components (the roof and hayloft) were painted in a thick glossy teal monstrosity. (Unfortunately I don't have before photos...) this paint took HOURS to sand off and in some places there are traces of it still.... but I got the roof and loft restained and now I have a functional barn for my ooooold friends. :)
The barn itself
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The loft
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And my mini play session The grass is a bit long but you get the idea (nearly all of these were the toys I played this game with so long ago... it actually felt good to relive those days).
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A popsicle stick "stall/shed" I made many years ago
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My pony's name was Banana.
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Suprise!
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And one of my helpers (Flynn) enjoying a good grass rub
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With 20 dollars and a lot of patience you recovered good memories, a childhood wish and the result is surely a joy for you. It looks all amazing and it is again a special episode being told on forum.

Absolutely wonderful, it really is a special sort of happiness to tap in so directly to those old, happy childhood moments, and to finally fulfill those little wishes that were so important at the time! I love that you have all your old friends to connect the past and the present and to relive a little of that "play" that's so hard to find as an adult. Great work getting that barn to look so good, too!

Banana is a fantastic name, too, he would have fit in perfect with how I named all my little horses.

What a wonderful idea to have fulfilled this wish and taken a lovely trip back to childhood! You have restored the barn so well and the animals seem so happy to be back on the farm! I love how you have positioned the dogs- especially that cheeky mixed breed in the trailer and Border Collie peeping out of the car!
And complete with your fabulous friend Flynn (he's gorgeous!), the perfect way to spend time!
I've also been looking back and remembering earlier memories and sometimes wishing I could be a child again... as a teenager these days it seems that there aren't many who still 'play'. But it's something I still love to do and don't think I'll ever grow out of right through to old age!

Nice looking barn! I love the 3rd photo, looks so comfy!!

Thank you everyone! It really has been a fun experience to complete and something I have put off for years so it feels good to be done. I think as adults it is so hard to find that childlike joy and wonder, and this finished product is really truly like a time capsule. I can't say enough how fun it was/is/will be. Thanks everyone.

This is really wonderful Paige !
For sure it was a fun project and the result is beautiful.
And I love your photos !

Fantastic that you managed to find what you didn't manage to get as a child. It's like a doll's house for farm animals. I love the donkey with cart. Is the cart hand-made?

Thank you Kosta and Roger! I got the cart second hand, but it is made of balsa type wood (very light weight) so I suspect that it is handmade. Some day I am going to find something to put in it for my donkeys to pull.

Another small project update!

And just a quick recap of what this silly toy barn means to me: As a child who grew up with Schleich toys, I most often played with the farm themed figures and lived out my dream of a homesteading lifestyle. As I grew up, I got more interested in wildlife models, but even to this day, my farm collection is still a big part of my hobby. I have slowly picked up items so that someday I can have dioramas and scenery photos similar to some other member's here. And with my family background in agriculture and dairy farming there is something nostalgic for me about a life zi have never lived, but what my grandparent's did in Southeastern Idaho and Northwestern Utah.

Anyhow, as a young(er) adult, I got the opportunity to buy a barn set. This originally sold at retail somewhere between 150$ and 200$ USD if I remember right, so this particular item was always out of the question when it was being sold on retail markets. When I was about 19 or 20 I found it in a garage sale being sold by a young girl who was getting older and wanting to make some cash for newer hobbies. I don't remember exactly what I paid, but it was only something 20$ and still had the majority of its parts.

The condition was not exactly... ideal. The main frame of the barn was untouched but the roof (intended to be left as bare pine wood) had been caked in a mixture of bright teal acrylic paint and some nail polish of the same color. It was a beast to get off! It took HOURS of sanding! Eventually, I got most of it off and restained it in an effort to preserve the wood and make the small bits of teal less visible in the support section areas.

97% of all the other pieces were there; the stall dividers, the doors and latches, the window inserts- but the hay hook and one of the corner braces were missing. I have yet to devise a replacement hay hook, but the corner piece was a small project that I finally got complete!

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Anyhow, without further delay, I did get to play with my old friends for a little while again. I had a small photo session with the barn while it was out of storage. The pictures aren't great- they were done inside in this insane heat wave we are having, and in the evening after work, but I think I did alright considering the conditions.
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Now, I to see if I can engineer the hay hook piece and decide if I want to embellish the building in any way to make it look more realistic or leave it as a 90% original Schleich set...

Great looking barn and congrats on getting it at such a great price!!!

Great pictures and work on the barn! I love that little Schleich rat, I didn't know about it. Love the laying down cows too!


I'm not really into farmlife anymore but I feel like every kid at some point had/wanted a barn full of farm animals. I remember my grandma had the big Breyer wood barn that my cousins and I would all fight over

Great repair work. It looks like all animals, including the rat, are very comfortable. Did you make the straw bales?

Thanks everyone!

So the rat is actually a new friend, an Archie McPhee. But I think Schleich has a similar model in one if their newer farm sets somewhere... probably in another 2-300$ barn set. The bales I actually bought cheaply at the dollar store; but all that these are is a small wood block with straw bits glued to them. They would be very easy to replicate!

I love this barn and everything in it! Especially the little details like the mouse in the straw bales! This is such a great child memory! I never had such a beautiful barn but I can imagine how you felt when you bought this one! Wonderful! Please don't hesitate taking more photos! Please!

Good quality photos! Thank you for sharing.