Rita’s Backyard is “Barn Again”

Are you planning to do some holiday decorating after Thanksgiving? If it is time to freshen up your home décor — or maybe send some floral arrangements and fruit baskets to family and friends — it may be a good time to visit the old barn at 12244 East 116th Street—otherwise known as Rita’s backyard!

It’s “something new” in something really old. The historic, 100-year old barn that sits amongst new subdivisions and strip malls along busy 116th Street (near Brooks School Road), has found new life as a retail center. And this time of year, it is lined with beautifully decorated trees, making it a holiday wonderland.

The former sheep barn has gone from sheep, to chic!

“It really was a sheep barn,” says Rita Beck, who owns the farm house and barn with her husband. “When we bought the barn, the sheep were removed, but everything sheep can leave behind was left behind, so we had a lot of clean up to do!”

The now clean barn has a new floor and heat for the first time. But, when you look up, you see a sign of the past: the wooden beams hewn from trees grown on the property over a century ago.

The Becks not only operate a unique and interesting home decor center on this acre slice of country, but they actually preserved one of the few remaining barns in Hamilton County. It is also the only remaining house and barn built by the Brooks family, who settled Fall Creek Township.

Today, Rita’s Backyard is a garden center in the spring and summer, a place for pumpkins in the fall, and now in the cold of winter, a home accent and florist shop with full delivery service. You can even shop Rita’s for a Christmas tree!

So, stop in during this busy holiday season to look back on yesterday and find something beautiful for your home today!

Happy Holidays!