MANSFIELD — After more than 40 years in the furniture business, Rob Stober has put the Spring Mill Furniture Barn up for sale.
The 68-year-old owner wants to address the future of the more-than-a-century-old barn at 1055 State Route 39 while he’s still in good health, but he’s in no rush.
“It’s a beautiful building, and I’d like to see it in good hands, with someone who appreciates it,” Stober said.
He listed the 14,000 square-foot building and the surrounding 3.6 acres of property last month for $650,000 with Wilston Realty. The posting refers to the barn as “three floors of timber frame architectural marvel” and suggests that the building become a home, museum, restaurant or antique mall, among other possibilities.
“It depends on how creative someone is and what they want to do,” Stober said.
He’s been approached by several interested buyers, each with different plans for the furniture store, but none have bought the place yet.
Stober anticipates the building could take a year or two to sell because of its unique features, but he’s willing to wait.
“That’s my thought, I’ll run it as an everyday business until it sells,” Stober said. “People can come in and order things, and I continue to buy things for the store.”
He doesn’t intend to have any “closing sales” or other discounts, as the store will remain open until a buyer comes forward.
Stober says he will determine the future of the store’s inventory and dozens of antiques that he’s collected since 1977 when he began running the business.
“It depends on who buys it,” Stober said.
He’s willing to sell many of the antiques if the new owner is interested in keeping them. The Spring Mill Furniture Barn opened in 1964. Stober’s parents bought the barn in 1963 and spent a year refurbishing the barn before starting the business.
Previously, the Stober family manufactured furniture for 16 years in Shelby at the Shelby Chair Company.
The building was vacant when they moved in, but it once was a working barn, complete with a milking parlor, blacksmith shop and a large hayloft upstairs. Stober can point out where each was located as he walks through the space now filled with dining room tables, desks and other furniture.
According to Stober, the barn was built as the “Fairview Dairy Barn” by the president of Mansfield Tire as a “showplace” and later taken away in the Great Depression.
Since then, the barn has become the oldest furniture store in Richland County. Further, signs declare the barn one of the 24 most unusual restoration barns in the state by a 1979 book and the “2006 Barn of the Year” by Friends of Ohio Barns.
Stober decided to sell the barn earlier this year after his mother died and his daughter moved away.
“There’s things in life that hit you at different times … And then it kind of hit me that I should have a plan,” Stober said. “It doesn’t mean I have to follow the plan, but if I have a plan, it might make things easier for somebody.”
He’s enjoyed his work and made dozens of memories at the barn. He recalled one time when two customers arrived via helicopter. Another time, someone drove up from Alabama to pick up furniture.
“We’ve got customers here from all over,” Stober said. “We’ve really had nice, loyal customers, and I’ve been very fortunate with that.”
But despite his reluctance to let go of his second home, Stober hopes by addressing it now, the barn will be maintained.
“It’d be nice to get it sold … I’m not so worried about what I do afterwards,” Stober said.
The Mifflin Township resident admits his plate is “very full.” In addition to running the Spring Mill Furniture Barn, Stober manages 10 apartments.
To check off everything on his to-do list, he wakes up at 4:30 or 5 a.m. daily.
“To say I want to do this or that (after selling the store), I don’t know that I can give you an honest answer at this point,” he said. “I haven’t got that far yet, but I’d like to be able to enjoy life a little.”
