Building Name (Common)
Leavenworth Tree FarmBuilding Name (Historic)
Leavenworth Tree FarmAddress
749 Coleman RoadCheshire
Typology
Designations
Historic Significance
Architectural description:
This is a 1 ½-story gable-roof barn structure with its ridge-line oriented east-west, perpendicular to Coleman Road, which runs approximately north-south. Located in the center of the north eave-facade of the barn is a pair of double-height sliding barn doors opening at grade and hung on an exterior track with a hood over the track. A few courses of fieldstone foundation are visible on the west half of the north eave-façade of the barn. The west gable-end of the barn has a few courses of fieldstone foundation visible with two equidistant three-pane horizontal windows on the basement level. The remainder of the west side is blank. A fieldstone retaining wall extends to the west from the southwest corner of the barn where the grade drops significantly. Located on the western most half of the basement level of the south eave-side of the barn is a sliding barn door hung on an exterior track with hood over the track. Extending to the east along the south eave-side of the barn are three equidistant three-pane fixed horizontal windows. Located to the east of the three windows on the south eave-side of the barn on the basement level is a barn door opening with a hood above the opening; it appears that there originally was a sliding barn door located at this opening. Located to the east of this barn opening is a three-pane fixed horizontal window. Located in the center of the main level of the south eave-side of the barn (situated a level above grade in the manner of a hay door) is a sliding barn door hung on an exterior track with hood over the track extending to the west. A fieldstone retaining wall extends to the south from the southeast corner of the barn where the grade rises significantly. The east gable-end of the barn has a few courses of fieldstone foundation visible with a single-pane hopper window located on the southern most half of the north half on the basement level. The barn has vertical siding painted red with window trim and corner boards painted white. The roof has asphalt shingles and overhangs at the eaves only.
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
Listed on the State Register of Historic Places 4/03/2013
Scribe rule framing - In addition to the scribe rule construction, this barn has a very rare timber detail on both sides where the siding is set out from the lower siding by a framing detail seldom seen. It is a centerpiece to an 1800s farm, including four other structures and a recent completely restored three hole privy. (JK field notes)