Barn Record Old Lyme

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Building Name (Common)
n/a
Building Name (Historic)
n/a
Address
53 Burr Road, Old Lyme
Typology
Overview

Designations

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Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2-story, eave-entry, tripartite barn with a shed-roofed addition. The main eave-facade faces roughly north, its ridge line perpendicular to Burr Road, which runs approximately north-south. The main entry is a pair of swinging hinged doors in the middle of three bays. Above the doors is a fifteen-pane transom. There are two twelve-pane windows in both flanking bays. The east gable-facade of the barn has three twelve-pane windows on the main level; two on the main structure and one in the shed-roofed addition, which is flush with the main structure. A siding divide starts at the end of the eave of the addition and continues across the barn to the north corner of the facade. The gable attic of the east gable-facade has a six-pane window. Beneath the apex of the roof is a arch-shaped louvered vent. The south eave-facade is completely encased by the shed-roofed addition. The west gable-facade has three garage doors; two in the main structure and one in the addition. The barn has vertical flush-board painted red and sits on a concrete-block masonry foundation. The roof has asphalt shingles and is topped with a wooded louvered copula.

Historical description:

The oldest barns still found in the state are called the “English Barn,” “side-entry barn,” “eave entry,” or a 30 x 40. They are simple buildings with rectangular plan, pitched gable roof, and a door or doors located on one or both of the eave sides of the building based on the grain warehouses of the English colonists’ homeland. The name “30 by 40” originates from its size (in feet), which was large enough for 1 family and could service about 100 acres. The multi-purpose use of the English barn is reflected by the building’s construction in three distinct bays - one for each use. The middle bay was used for threshing, which is separating the seed from the stalk in wheat and oat by beating the stalks with a flail. The flanking bays would be for animals and hay storage.

Field Notes

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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 barn is to the east of the house it is associated with. The barn is accessed by a circular driveway that originates from Burr Road, although the house faces Town Woods Road. Behind the house and barn to the south appears to be a fenced in-ground pool. North of the barn is a yard that fronts Town Woods Road. To the east is Burr Road. To the south is dense woodland with a stone wall cutting across it, going east-west. To the east is woodland. The area surrounding the 4.2 acre site is woodland and scattered residential units.

Typology & Materials

Building Typology

Materials


Structural System

n/a

Roof materials


Roof type


Approximate Dimensions

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Source

Date Compiled

07/15/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust

Sources

Photographs by JoAnna Chapin.

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.

Map of the Lyme, CT, retrieved on July 22, 2010 from website www.zillow.com.

Town of Lyme assessors office, Town Hall, 480 Hamburg Road, Lyme, CT.

PhotosClick on image to view full file