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Historic Significance
Architectural description:
This is a 2 ½ - story three-bay eave-entry bank barn towards the south of Woodridge Drive and the west of West Road. The ridge line of the barn runs east-west almost perpendicular to West Road. The three-bay south eave-side of the barn oriented away from Woodbridge Drive is the main façade with the main entrance centered in the middle bay through a pair of double-height exterior-hung hooded horse-shoe track braced sliding wagon doors. The façade has a second entrance towards the extreme west through a pair of Dutch doors with lintel trim. A double-leaf window with lintel trim and blacksmith hardware can be seen towards the immediate east of the pass-through door. The second floor level of the main south eave-façade of the barn has a pair of Z-braced hinged bay doors with blacksmith hardware, centered above the main entrance. The west gable-end of the barn has four six-over-six double-hung sash windows at the first floor level. The second floor level has a pair of hinged hay doors with blacksmith hardware at the center while a six-pane window can be seen towards the north. The gable attic lined by deep soffit is separated from the rest of the gable-end by a distinct girt siding divide line and has a six-over-six double-hung sash window. The east gable-end of the barn has low grade level forming the bank which is accessed by two pairs of hinged wagon doors with blacksmith hardware towards the south. A six-over-six double-hung sash window can be seen towards the extreme north. The first floor level of the east gable-end has a six-over-six double-hung sash window towards the north with a gutter pipe running transversely above it. The gable attic lined with cornice board is separated from the rest of the gable-end by a distinct girt siding divide line finished off in ornate saw-tooth detail and has a six-over-six double-hung sash window just below the apex of the roof. The gable-roof of the barn has a louvered cupola with a rooster wind vane at the center. The wooden frame of the barn is supported on field stone masonry foundation. The barn has asphalt shingles roofing and red painted vertical siding walls with white trim.
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.
The 19th century 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 into 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
This building emphasizes the replacability of barns. Although it is associated with a house thought to be ca. 1822, this barn clearly dates from the end of the 19th century. While an earlier barn was probably constructed around the time that the house was built, by the beginning of the 21st century it was no longer standing. The building sits on a slope close to the road a fair distance from a building described by the New Canaan HS as being 19th century.[JS]