Built about 1805 (along with a mansion) to a design by Alexander Parris, it was remodeled to plans by John Howard Stevens when the estate was taken over by Portland Junior College in 1947.

Deering retained architect Alexander Parris, then at the start of a long and illustrious career, to design a gentleman's country estate on the property.

[2] The college retained John Calvin Stevens II to design alterations to the carriage barn, which became a centerpiece of the campus.

[4] It was given a handsome Colonial Revival facade, with tall round-arched windows, and housed a combination gymnasium and assembly hall, along with a snack bar and lounge.

The old barn was deemed an eyesore by the university administration and was torn down in August 1969 over the protests of preservationists and sit-in campus activists, who were removed by court order to allow the demolition to proceed.