The Barngrover Barn was once a community treasure for Tualatin, part of an oasis of green surrounded by development. Built in 1910, the three-story-tall barn was visible from Interstate 205, and was used by five generations of the Sagert family for their farming operations. A 1993 analysis declared that the barn was a historic resource, stating, “The site is one of the few intact farming operations in the community… This is the most unique barn in the area and appears not to have been altered over time… the Tualatin Historic Preservation Advisory Committee [recommends] to the City Council that the Barngrover Barn be designated a landmark.”
In 2016, Lennar Corporation destroyed the barn as part of their Sagert Farm development of 79 tract houses. As is typical for the corporation, despite community outcry, there was no substantive attempt made to save the barn, and no consideration was given to keeping it as a community treasure. Keeping the barn would have meant one or two fewer houses and thus a little less profit. This is not tenable for Lennar, which in 2018 destroyed the former Jennings Lodge Evangelical Retreat, clearcutting over 300 ancient trees and leveling 16 acres of historic buildings despite massive opposition from the community, to build yet another swathe of featureless and characterless tract houses.
Resources
Oregon Historic Resources database
Five Generations of the Sagert Family Custom Farming Business