Arbaney Barn Restoration

The Basalt Regional Heritage Society in partnership with the Town of Basalt and the Basalt Community is undertaking the task to restore the Arbaney Barn into a living museum. Because of the Arbaney Barn's close proximity to both the elementary and middle schools and also because of its history.

In 1909 the Emery Arbaney family purchased the land, including the kilns, from the J.B. Kingley family. Emery immigrated from Aosta, Italy to the United States and married Lottie Cavel of Woody Creek. They had two children, Lucille and Fredrick (Buster).

Fredrick married Josephine Zelnick of Aspen on April 6, 1947 and had two sons. Fredrick and Josephine Zelnick moved onto the family Arbaney ranch in 1949 and took over running the land. They sold property for the commercial area around 1973 and also property to the Roaring Fork School District for school enlargement. The area was once ranch land where the family raised potatoes, oats, wheat, hay, cattle and chickens, as well as maintaining a huge garden west of the brick two story home.

The home was once heated with four pot belly stoves but had no plumbing or electricity. The fixtures from the Catholic rectory in Aspen were used to remodel the pantry into a bathroom. The addition of the back room and porch were moved up from the railroad building in Basalt. Her two-story brick home is decorated in the original kitchen cook stove and furnishings. The two-story Arbaney barn was the family horse barn. Today Josephiney Arbaney still resides in the Arbaney home which is located behind the Arbaney Barn. Many of the items which the Arbaney Barn will display will come from Mrs. Arbaney as well as the Cerises, the Willits, the Lees and other Basalt pioneer families.

The Arbaney Barn will not be a museum where the displays just gather dust, The BRHS plans on breathing life into the museum through live demonstrations that show what life was like in Basalt. We plan on doing this by holding talks at the barn in which BRHS members will demonstrate butter churning, apple cider pressing, preserving as well as telling the story of different town homesteaders by becoming that person through live performances. This will take place during the summer as well as during the school year so that when the middle school and elementary school are studying the local history we will complement that lesson with our museum talks. We will work together with the history teachers to accomplish this very important part of the children's education.

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