Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:

This is a 2 ½ story eave-entry multi-bay barn with a gable-roof addition on its western gable-façade. The northern eave-façade of the barn faces Stockhouse Road while the ridge-line runs east-west parallel to the road. The main façade of the barn is the eastern gable-façade with the main entrance at the center through a garage door. Two thirty-pane windows can be seen on the façade, one each on either side of the main garage door entrance at the center. The façade has an exterior-hung sliding hay door centered at the second floor level and a distinct girt siding divide line separating the attic above which is punctuated by two metal louvered windows. The first floor level of the eastern gable-façade of the barn has concrete block masonry while the rest of the façade has vertical siding. The southern eave-façade of the barn has an entrance at the center through a pair of hinged doors. A pass-through door can be seen towards the eastern edge of the facade. The two entrances are separated by five twenty-pane stable windows alternated by five four-pane stable windows. The façade also has a series of openings towards the west of the hinged door at the center and has five boarded windows at the second floor level. The western gable-façade of the barn has a paired louvered window just below the apex of the roof and a distinct girt siding divide line intersected by the gable-roof addition. The southern side-wall of the gable-roof addition is flush with the southern eave-façade of the main barn and has a pass-through door insert off-centered towards the east. The western gable-side of the gable-roof addition has a garage door entrance at the center and three three-pane windows, two towards the south and one towards the north of the garage door. The barn has a pair of metal chimneys intersecting the gable-roof. 
The barn has cement foundation supporting the exposed concrete block masonry of the first floor level and the wooden frames of the second floor level and the roof above. The second floor level of the barn has red-painted vertical siding walls and asphalt shingle roofing.
The wooden frame of the gable-roof addition is supported on cement foundation and also has red-painted vertical siding walls. The gable-roof addition has metal roofing.

Historical Significance:

The barn appears to be originally a New England bank barn with the bank level renovated as the existing first floor level.

The New England barn or gable front barn was the successor to the English barn and relies on a gable entry rather than an entry under the eaves. The gable front offers many practical advantages. Roofs drain off the side, rather than flooding the dooryard. With the main drive floor running parallel to the ridge, the size of the barn could be increased to accommodate larger herds by adding additional bays to the rear gable end. Although it was seen by many as an improvement over the earlier side-entry English Barn, the New England barn did not replace its predecessor but rather coexisted with it. The 19th century also saw the introduction of a basement under the barn to allow for the easy collection and storage of a winter’s worth of manure from the animals sheltered within the building. The bank barn is characterized by the location of its main floor above grade, either through building on a hillside or by raising the building on a foundation. This innovation, aided by the introduction of windows for light and ventilation, would eventually be joined by the introduction of space to shelter more animals under the main floor of the barn.

Field Notes

Dimensions: 30ft X 80 ft Use (historic): Agriculture, dairy Use (current) : Storage, workspace Environment: Commercial, Industrial Features: Stone Walls Threats: Development Materials: Concrete, fieldstone, vertical siding Roof: Asphalt shingle Roof Type: Gable Technology: New England Structural System: Load bearing masonry

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• storage

---

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Shed
• Stone Walls

Environment features

• Commercial
• Industrial

Relationship to surroundings

The property is situated in a predominantly industrial zone towards the south of Stockhouse Road.

The barn is located towards the northern edge of the 3.23 acres property abutting to Stockhouse road with a driveway towards the east wrapping the barn along its southern eave-façade and the western gable-façade. A small gable-roof shed can be seen adjacent to the southern eave-façade of the barn while a shed-roof structure can be seen towards the north-west, nearer to Stockhouse road. Another semi-open shed can be seen towards the south-east of the barn.

Building Typology

• New England Bank

Materials

• Concrete Block
• Vertical Siding

---

Structural System

• Load-bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle
• Metal

---

Roof type

• Gable
• Shed

---

Approximate Dimensions

30ft X 80 ft

Date Compiled

07/21/2010

Compiled By

T. Levine and M. Patnaik, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photographs and field notes provided by –
Susan Ververis, 12/7/2009

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.