Saanen goats are a Swiss breed known for their calm temperament, pointy ears, and tendency to climb the tallest structure in their immediate surroundings to help them evade predators in the mountainous environments they call home. While there are no such predators in central Illinois, one caring couple in the small town of Windsor built a literal tower to put their herd at ease. The Tower of Baa is located on the sprawling property of Dave and Marcia Johnson (pictured below). The 30-foot-tall structure, made of 5,000 handmade bricks, was built with 276 steps wrapping around the frame. They help the goats to reach their respective “apartments” — hollow rooms within the tower where the goats sleep at night. It’s a charming installation, but it actually preceded the goats. A voracious reader — and former school principal — Dave was flipping through an issue of Decanter magazine in the mid-1990s when he was struck by an image of a winery in South Africa. The winery featured a tower with spiral steps upon which a herd of goats ascended and descended as they pleased. It was the second tower of its kind ever built, the first being erected in the 19th century on a winery in Portugal. Dave decided he would build the third. He called the bricklayer who built his house and asked him to come out of retirement to design the structure. The bricklayer agreed and ordered a haul of handmade bricks from North Carolina. After three months of work, the structure was complete, with a copper roof on top. The Johnsons then purchased 11 goats to call the tower home. While the herd has grown and shrunk in size over time, they’ve always slept in the tower and enjoyed climbing and jumping from its wooden steps.
