Building a Picturesque Michigan Farm Facility

December 29, 2014

It was a stroll down memory lane and a family history of customer satisfaction that provided the vision for Andy and his latest partnership with Morton Buildings. A quick glance at one of Morton’s annual promotional items put the wheels in motion on his newest building purchase.

“I had seen a building (several) years ago in a Morton calendar that had a really unique porch on it,” longtime Morton owner Andy said of the inspiration for his machine storage shop in his small eastern Michigan hometown.

“The building (in the calendar) was an extremely good-looking building. So I saved that and incorporated that idea into this building.”

Andy also didn’t have to look far to see Morton’s workmanship in action. His brother built a Morton farm shop more than a decade ago. His family also boasts a Morton storage facility, making his newest purchase the family’s third Morton building.

Years of research and planning coupled with a unified design effort with a Morton sales consultant helped the project evolve to a 74’W x 16’H x 105’L facility in Freeland, Mich. The finished product proved to be larger than Andy’s original plan.

“This building is used for machine storage but also for a shop, so it’s kind of a combination of both,” Andy explained. “It allows us to use it in the wintertime for larger equipment to work on. We also have another Morton building for a farm shop, but this is for overflow and also allows us to work on the big equipment.”

In addition to the wrap-around porch that initially piqued his interest, the exterior showcases Morton’s Hi-Rib steel and windows with shutters. Two cupolas with Morton weather vanes are mounted atop the ridge of the roof. On the inside, a service pit was installed along the middle of the concrete floor to provide easy access to the underside of semis and other farm equipment.

Andy expressed his desire to build Morton thanks partially to its design flexibility. Morton’s clear-span construction allowed Andy to include a 26’ x 16’ door on each end of the building, providing easy entry and exit for his large farm equipment. The symmetrical setup of the structure also eliminates the headache of maneuvering large machinery inside the building.

“The idea was that if you come in with a semi or a big piece of equipment, you can drive through the building, entering one door and going out the other, or you can drive around the back side of the building without building a two-acre parking lot to turn around.”

Andy reflected with a smile when asked about the response the building has received from his family and friends in the town of 5,100 less than 25 miles from Lake Huron.

“We had a lot of positive feedback and interest in the building right after it was completed. People really complimented me on the building. It was kind of flattering in a way. I’ve had very positive responses to the building – it’s a nice-looking building.

In a satisfying twist of fate, Andy and Morton Buildings have come full circle. The 7,560-square-foot storage facility is featured in Morton’s 2015 calendar.

“The long-term goal is to have a building you’re happy with and you trust the company that they stand behind it,” Andy said when asked what he would recommend others to choose Morton Buildings. “I would recommend Morton for many reasons, but one is that they have a long history of standing behind their buildings.”

“I trust them.”

Morton wouldn’t have it any other way.

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