Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a three-barn complex towards the east of Barber Hill Road. The semi-subterranean barn, Barn-I is located towards the west abutting to the road while Barn-II is located along the northern edge of the property. A tobacco shed, Barn-III is also located along the northern edge of the property, towards the east of Barn-II. The ridge lines of all the three barns, Barn-I, Barn-II and Barn-III run east-west parallel to each other but perpendicular to the road.

Barn-I: This is a 1 ½ - story gable-entry gambrel-roof semi-subterranean barn with a gambrel-roof addition on its west gable-end. The ridge lines of both the main barn and the gambrel-roof addition run east-west perpendicular to Barber Hill Road. The west gable-end of the gambrel-roof addition on the west gable-end of the main barn facing the road is the main façade with the main entrance at the center through a pair of diagonal-board hinged wagon doors. The west gable-end of the main barn is blank and has white painted vertical siding while the rest of the gable-end has cement plastered masonry. The grade level along the north and the south eave-side of the gambrel-roof addition gradually rises towards the east so that the eave-level of the main barn almost touches the ground. 

The barn has cement plastered masonry wall supporting the wooden frame of the roof. The barn has asphalt shingles roofing and white painted vertical siding on the gable attic.

Barn-II: This is a 1 ½ - story five-bay barn with entries from both the gable-end and the eave-side. The ridge line of the barn runs east-west perpendicular to Barber Hill Road. The west gable-end of the barn facing the road is the main façade with the main double-height wagon door entrance at the center and the gable attic separated by a distinct girt siding divide line. The five-bay south eave-side of the barn also has a double-height wagon door entrance centered in the middle bay.

Barn-III: This is a 1 ½ - story gable-entry three-aisle tobacco shed which appears to be fifteen-bent. The ridge line of the shed runs east-west perpendicular to Barber Hill Road. The west gable-end of the tobacco shed facing the road is the main façade with the main wagon entrance at the center and the gable attic separated by a distinct girt siding divide line. The south eave-side of the shed appears to have a second wagon door entrance at the center and a series of window openings towards the west, just below the eave-level. The tobacco shed appears to have a system of ventilation through the vertical siding on the eave-sides in which alternate boards are hinged along the sides to open like tall narrow doors, each held in place by its own hook.

The wooden frame of the tobacco shed appears to be supported on concrete footing. The shed has asphalt shingles roofing and vertical siding walls.

Historical significance:

Potato houses or storage barns come in many different shapes and sizes all linked by the common goal of keeping harvested potatoes at a constant temperature and in the dark. The most traditional of these are characterized by a semi-subterranean arrangement.

The tobacco barn, or shed as it is called in the Connecticut River Valley, is one of the most distinctive of the single-crop barns. They tend to be long, low windowless buildings with pitched roofs. They are characterized by vented sides to regulate air flow and allow harvested tobacco to cure at the appropriate rate. Derived initially from the design of the English barn, the shed is composed of a fixed skeleton consisting of two- or three-aisle bents repeated at intervals of 15 feet to the desired length. The wood-framed bents sit on piers of stone or concrete and the bents are connected by girts and diagonal braces. Typically there are two doors at each end, making the shed a “drive-through,” although some sheds are accessed through doors on the sides. The interior structural framework serves a second purpose in addition to supporting the walls and roof of the building; it provides a framework for the rails used to hang the tobacco as it cures. This is accomplished with one of four different systems (more than one method may be utilized in a single shed):

a) Vertical slats - siding in which every second board is hinged at the top and tilted out at the bottom by means of a horizontal cleat, that lifts several boards at once, and metal prop hooks to hold the boards in place;

b) Side slats - Vertical siding in which alternate boards are hinged along the sides to open like tall narrow doors, each held in place by its own hook;

c) Less commonly, horizontal siding in which alternate boards are hinged along the top edge and open like long narrow awnings; this system may be employed along the lower edge of the wall in conjunction with vertical or side slats;

d) A series of large doors along one of the long sides of the building with the other sides of the building vented by one or more of the other methods.

e) The tobacco sheds can have additional ventilation through side-pivot awning vents on the gable-ends, which co-exist with one or more of the above four systems of ventilation.

Field Notes

The Dzen Tree Farm where pick your own, cut it down and take home and enjoy that special holiday tree.An in-ground barn as well as an agricultural barn on this working farm.

Use (Historic)

• potato

Use (Present)

• agriculture

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Shed

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Open Land
• Residential
• Rural
• Scattered Buildings
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The 57.94 acres property, Account Number- 0002665 and Map Number- 127 1, is located towards the east of Barber Hill Road. The property is located in a residential area of rural character with individual plots separated by parcels of farm land. Farm land with farm houses and barns practicing active agriculture can be seen towards the north, east, south and the west across the road while the area towards the northeast is covered by dense woodland.

The semi-subterranean barn, Barn-I is located along the western edge of the property abutting to Barber Hill Road.  Barn-II and the tobacco shed, Barn-III are located along the northern edge of the property with their gable-ends facing each other; Barn-II towards the west and Barn-III towards the east. The ridge lines of all the three barns, Barn-I, Barn-II and Barn-III run east-west parallel to each other but perpendicular to the road. The circa 1800 colonial main residence of the property is located towards the south of Barn-I. At least four green houses can be seen towards the immediate northeast of Barn-I while few sheds and outbuildings can be seen scattered in the northwest corner of the property. The rest of the property towards the south and the east of the barn complex has farm land practicing active agriculture.

Building Typology

• Other Shed
• Tobacco Shed

Materials

• Concrete
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Load-bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable
• Gambrel

Approximate Dimensions

Barn: 1944 SqFt, Circa 1938; Garage: 240 SqFt, Circa 1938; Shed: 180 SqFt, Circa 1938

Date Compiled

06/03/2011

Compiled By

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

Sources

Field notes provided by: Margit Rosenberger, 06/29/2010.

Assessors’ information retrieved on June 3rd, 2011 from website www.southwindsor.org/pages/swindsorct_assessor/index

GIS Map and information retrieved on June 3rd, 2011 from website www.southwindsor.org/pages/swindsorct_dpw/gis/gis

O’Gorman, James F., Connecticut Valley Vernacular: the Vanishing Landscape and Architecture of the New England Tobacco Fields, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, 144 pages.

Photograph/Information retrieved on June 3rd, 2011 from website http://www.google.com

Photograph/Information retrieved on June 3rd, 2011 from website http://www.bing.com.

Photograph/Information retrieved on June 3rd, 2011 from website http://www.zillow.com.

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.