Random rubble stone building with brick quoins, surrounds and string courses. Gabled roof clad with corrugated iron with ridge vent. Vents to gable ends. Some ground level opening have been filled in and damaged.
This is the only structure remaining on the site of John Smith’s homestead. Smith was one an early settler in the district and founded the township of Smithfield. Smith was the largest landholder in the district and the size of the barn reflects this.
The barn was built c.1860, a solid stone brick building with a stone floor. I had a manger the whole of its length. At the end of the building was a chaff cutter, used to cut the hay which was stored in the building. The horses fed from both sides of the wooden manger.
The stone to build the barn was carted down from the local quarry in the hills face behind the building and the wood had been cut from the nearby Peachey Forest. Smith used the stables not only for his own purposes but for those who stopped at his inn requiring food and rest for their horses.
Directly behind the stable was a large stone stand on which stood a water tank and alongside s sheep dip.
Several trees on the site date from the family’s first settlement in the area in 1847 and included a large carob tree.
It was recommended in the 1996 heritage survey to be listed on the Local Heritage Register as a place of local heritage value to the City of Playford.
Locally the building is known as the Elephant House, however it is doubtful whether Smith’s elephant was kept inside. The entrance to the stable is low and not wide enough. It is more probable that Jumbo the elephant was attached to a tree by chain.
