Barn Record Farmington

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Building Name (Common)
Frederick L. Scott barn
Building Name (Historic)
n/a
Address
113 Main Street (Route 10), Farmington
Typology
Overview

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½-story eave-entry barn with a gable roof.  The barn is situated perpendicular to Main Street and the primary façade faces northwest.  A three-bay 1-story gable roof wagon shed addition is present connected to the east corner of the main barn, giving the entire structure an L shaped footprint.  Main Street passes this property on a southwest to northeast alignment.

The primary façade of this barn is the northeast eave-side, which contains the main entries.  These entries consist of three pairs of single-entry wooden panel hinged garage doors.  The center and east doors are of the same design with a single large panel in the upper half and four smaller vertical panels below.  The western door has the same dimensions, but the doors feature a pair of elongated top panels over a pair of nearly square-shaped panels below.  These three entries together extend the length of the façade from the north corner to where the addition projects off the façade.  A basketball hoop backboard is mounted above the central door.  A smaller attic-loft access door is present off-center over the western door.  A downspout is mounted to the wall between the central and eastern door to drain the gutter above. 

The northwest gable-end features a large modern Palladian window opening centered below the roof ridgeline in the gable-attic.  The remainder of this end is blank.  The southwest eave-side has a single double-hung window in the western bay.  A horizontal window opening appears to be present in the central bay.  The southeast gable-end also has a centered opening beneath the ridgeline in the gable-attic.  The first story contains an off-center double-hung window toward the south, and a pass-through door present near the east corner. 

The wagon shed addition is 1-story in height and 3-bays in width.  The primary façade faces northwest.  Each of the three bays contains a single-car garage entry, with no doors apparent.  The northeast gable end contains a six-pane window opening near the north corner and a twelve-pane window near the east corner, each with a prominent lintel above.  The southeast eave-side and southwest gable-end appear to be blank.

The barn is clad with horizontal wooden clapboard siding, painted red.  The addition is also painted red.  The trim around all door frames and the window frames and trim are painted white.  Both gable roofs are covered with dark gray asphalt shingles. 

Historical significance:

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.

Distinguished by the long shed or gable roof and the row of large openings along the eave side, the typical wagon shed was often built as a separate structure or as a wing connected to the farmhouse or the barn. These open-bay structures protect farm vehicles and equipment from the weather and provide shelter for doing small repairs and maintenance.

Field Notes

Frederick L. Scott barn, 1894

Use & Accessibility

Use (Historic)

Use (Present)


Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Environment

Related features

n/a

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

The main barn is situated perpendicular to Main Street but is located almost directly behind the associate farmhouse, making it difficult to see from the road.  The adjoining wagon-shed addition is parallel to Main Street.  The associated house is a large 2 ½-story gambrel roof dwelling with a rectangular footprint, situated perpendicular to the road.  The barn is connected to Main Street by an asphalt driveway which wraps around the northeast eave-side of the house to reach the street.  The property is closely bordered by several other residential properties on all sides.  The historic Old Farmington Cemetery is located just one property south of this address.  St. Patrick’s Church is located directly across Main Street to the west of this property, beyond which are two large tracts of open-space, which may be used as athletic fields.  The streets surrounding this property are lined with both historic and modern residences.  These are intermixed with occasional small areas of woodland or open space.

Typology & Materials

Building Typology

Materials


Structural System

n/a

Roof materials


Roof type


Approximate Dimensions

BARN: 864 square feet each story ADDITION: 735 square feet

Source

Date Compiled

04/10/2011

Compiled By

N. Nietering & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photographs by Todd Levine.

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, 213 pages.

Map of Farmington, CT, retrieved on April 9, 2011 from website www.bing.com.

Farmington Assessor’s Records - online - http://www.farmington-ct.org/landrecords/search.php

PhotosClick on image to view full file