Why are tropical animals so colorful? Archaeologists discover that parties 11,000 years ago were BYOB — bring your own boar But barns weren't originally red in fact, they weren't painted at all.

Why are so many barns red? Barns, like houses and other buildings, could be any color you choose, but red seems to be the dominant barn color. Before 1800, very few barns were painted.

There are three reasons we see so many red American barns. It’s traditional, it’s practical and the color looks good. Although a main reason to paint wooden buildings is for appearances, paint ...

The answer, like most things, lies in our history. New England settlers didn't have enough money to paint their farms. So they needed a cheap way to protect the barns' wood.