Our Story

Dear John Acres’ story began over 70 years ago.

Dear John Acres is a tribute to my mother and father, John and Ruby (Wilcox) Swihart.    Their special love story began when they met and later married on December 25, 1951.  Along with my two brothers and two sisters, I was fortunate to have been raised on a family farm.  As a farmer’s wife, my mom worked side by side with dad each and every day of their 56 years of marriage. She would often write and leave notes for my dad to find.  The letters would always begin, “Dear John.”  After dad had passed, she continued to write him her “Dear John” letters in a notebook.  She would keep him informed on how the beans were growing in the fields, who had “come home” that day, along with how much she missed him.

The Barn

In 1957, the barn was purchased from a neighbor.  The catch was, it was on his property.  So the barn was moved several hundred feet, through the woods, to the location it stands today.  There, it housed livestock, equipment, and was the site of many childhood adventures.   My dad, the ever-true John Deere enthusiast, added the tractor design when reroofing the barn in 1986, which became a local landmark.

 “Dear John Acres” was created in 2019 when my daughter, Rachel, announced that she wanted to be married the following year in the barn across from her gram and grandpa’s house.   In naming the barn, thinking of the love that was the foundation and reason for the work going into it, we came up with Dear John Acres – Plus a fun play on the John Deere on the roof.

Unfortunately, the barn had been neglected for many years.  The paint had faded, the roof was missing shingles, boards needed replaced, and the interior was filled with “treasures”.  Just clearing it out wasn’t the vision we had, so it underwent a total restoration.  A new tractor roof to replicate the fading one, additional cement, replacement doors, and a fresh coat of barn red were all part of a year-long labor of love.

In August 2020, Rachel and her husband were married in the barn that held special childhood memories for her.  Celebration again filled the barn a month later when her brother, Ryan, used the barn for his wedding reception.  

Mom and Dad would be pleased to see the barn’s transformation!

Our desire is that Dear John Acres will continue to create special memories for others, whether it be for a wedding, reception, family reunion, graduation, or birthday event.