Interesting.
I’ve always found the different design, markings and colors of the barns interesting.
Countries of origin certainly influenced farmers’ barn choices and look.
Main groups settling (there are many more) were Germans, Poles and Norwegians - yah?!
Don’t forget the Irish and the Italians — both very prominent and influential groups here. The Irish were here very early. According to one of my neighbors — descended from an old Irish family — the Irish (who were here first) vacated this area quickly after the Germans moved in. They moved west to the hill tops. According to her, the Irish preferred the tops of hills, while the Germans preferred the rich bottomland.
A case in point is the village next door to me. The historic Catholic Church is built on the most prominent corner in the center of town — a narrow wedge of land given by the German merchants to the mostly Irish at the time parish to encourage the Catholics to come into town where all the German shops were.
There also is a difference in the architecture of the early log houses too, with the German construction varying from the Norwegian construction. The English construction was more like we know today.
Wisconsin barns look quite different from California barns where I grew up. If I were a good photographer, I’d do a photo essay of all the interesting barns while they still are standing. We lose several in this area each year.