Barn Record Ledyard

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Building Name (Common)
Mystic Valley Hunt Club
Building Name (Historic)
Whipple Family Dairy Farm
Address
645 Long Cove Road, Ledyard
Typology
Overview

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

The historic barn on this property is a 1&½-story, gable-roofed, rectangular building that has been considerably enlarged.  It has evidently been both extended in length, to five bays (relatively early in its history), and added to via construction of a shed-roof addition, built in recent years judging from design and materials.  The roof ridge is aligned east to west.  The shed-roof addition extends along the south side of the barn.  A relatively small, shed-roofed wing projects toward the north from the west end of the barn’s north eaves wall.  The roof of this wing slopes downwards toward the west. 

The north eaves wall contains the main entry, hung with a pair of double-height sliding doors and located in the second bay from the west end.  Based on the presence of this entry, the only floor-to-eaves doorway visible from the exterior, it appears that the original section comprises the three bays to the west.  These three bays are also situated with the top of their foundation wall at a level about one foot higher than that for the two eastward bays, a factor partially explained by the eastward decline of the gradient against this side of the building.  The main entry is the only opening on the north side of the apparent original section.  On the evident extension, a single exterior sliding door with hooded track is situated in the fourth bay from the west.  Other openings on the east section of the north eaves wall are located in the end bay and include a hay loft door positioned toward the top of the wall toward the end of the building and a small 6-pane fixed window just to the east of the east entry.

The east end gable wall of the barn is blank but for a hay loft aperture in the peak.  The girt line siding divide is located just below the eaves.

The south eaves wall is completely encompassed within the large modern shed-roof addition, which houses a large stable area for horses.

The barn foundation wall is apparently surfaced with poured concrete or stucco, except for a broad segment of the north wall of the east end section that consists of rubble stonework.  The foundation wall of the shed-roof addition is concrete.  The barn and the shed-roof addition are clad in vertical flush board, painted gray.  The roof of the barn has a projecting overhang.  The roofing cover for the barn consists of wooden shingle for the eastern half of the north slope, built-up asphalt for the south slope and the western half of the north slope.  The shed-roof addition is roofed with built-up asphalt.

Historical significance:

The English barn was the main type used throughout the colonial era in Connecticut.  It is characterized by a rectangular plan, a pitched roof, entry through a large door on the long side and a tri-partite plan.  Traditionally, hay was stored on one side, animals on the other, with access and grain threshing taking place in the central bay.

Field Notes

Former dairy farm. Converted to equestrian center. Collection of 4 barns: 1. Original dairy barn with addition for stables and equipment storage. 2. Two-story stable with 3 stalls, wood siding. 3. Small lean-to style stable. 4. Huge equestrian wooden stable facility with attached metal-sided arena.

Use & Accessibility

Use (Historic)

Use (Present)


Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Environment

Related features

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

The property is located about 3 miles north of I-95, at a distance of about 4 miles from either New London or Mystic.  The general character of the vicinity is rural residential, with a topography of rolling terrain that is somewhat rocky and largely wooded.  Ledyard Reservoir, a large pond, is located immediately across Long Cove Road to the east, at a distance of about 100 yards.  A deep quarry or sinkhole is situated about a quarter-mile to the north.

The property, situated on the west side of Long Cove Road, a secondary highway, is 169 acres in extent.  The architectural complex of the farmstead is divided into two areas, one historic in origin and located at the front of the property and toward the southeast, the other entirely of construction since ca. 2005 and lying to the north.  A single dirt and gravel drive leads into the property past the 2-story 19th–century dwelling house located on the north side of the drive.  A small grove of substantial evergreen trees stands to the east of the house, toward the highway.  Lawn areas around the house are of modest extent.  Just west of the house, the drive forms an open court area with historic outbuildings distributed around it, including two domestic outbuildings of unknown type and two stables.  Two drives extend further from this court, one into the pastures to the southwest, the other to the modern stable-arena area to the north. The historic barn with modern stable leanto addition stands on the west side of the court.

The modern building complex extends to the north along the west side of the northerly drive.  Both component buildings are quite large.  The bigger of the two, the stable-arena, is situated nearer to the historic farmstead, with the other modern stable behind the arena toward the north.

A series of 3 fenced paddocks are located to the east of the northerly drive (and north or behind the house).  Three fenced outdoor riding ring areas are located to the west of the barns and stables, with a stream (running north-south) intervening between these enclosures and the buildings.  Open pastures are located both to the northwest and the southwest, in the latter area accompanied by a pair of farm ponds fed by the stream.  The farm property also has extensive wooded areas to the south and west.

Typology & Materials

Building Typology

Materials


Structural System

Roof materials


Roof type


Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Source

Date Compiled

02/09/2011

Compiled By

P. Pendleton & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Anne T. Roberts-Pierson;  date 12/07/2009.

Town of Ledyard Assessor’s Record: Parcel ID: 123/ 1340/ 645/ / /

Aerial Mapping:  http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 2/09/2011.

Sexton, James, PhD, Survey Narrative of the Connecticut Barn, Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Hamden, CT, 2005, http://www.connecticutbarns.org/history.

Visser, Thomas D., Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings, University Press of New England, 1997.

PhotosClick on image to view full file