Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2 story, gable-roofed, eave-entry bank barn.  The ridge-line is parallel with Durham Road, which runs north-south. In the west eave-side there is a lower level entrance which is an exterior sliding door at the left (north) end of the basement level. It appears there are two stable windows cut into the door. One is open; the other boarded over. At the south corner is a Dutch pass-through door. The lower panel is solid; the upper panel is a window with eight panes. On the main level there is a hay door just south of center. At the north corner it appears there may have been an opening.

The south gable-end of the barn has three two-panel awning windows in the basement level. The foundation is exposed as the grade declines west. There is a hay door in the gable attic.

The east eave-side of the barn, opening to the upper grade level, has a hinged pass-through door at the left (south) corner.  The north third of the façade is set back slightly. The north gable end of the barn has no openings. The barn is covered with vertical, flush-board siding painted red. The roof has asphalt shingles. The foundation is concrete and shows signs of deterioration.

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

grant pre-app 2009

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• agriculture

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

n/a

Environment features

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

Relationship to surroundings

Approximately six miles north of Guilford center, the barn is located on the east side of Durham Road on a 2.22-acre parcel of land.  Clustered around the entrance to the property are the barn, a granary, oversized garage with two bays and attached living space or workshop, and a house built in 1900.  The remaining acreage is a combination of open fields and woodland.  Surrounding the property, the landscape on Durham Road is largely residential and rural, with historic homes and barns, open fields and woodland. The town line with Durham is a short distance to the north.

M/P 128005

Building Typology

• English Bank
• Other Shed

Materials

• Concrete
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

615 sq. ft.

Date Compiled

03/05/2011

Compiled By

C. Wilkinson & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by grant pre-app - 3/13/2009

Town of Guilford Assessor’s Record:
http://www.guilfordgis.com

GIS Viewer:  http://www.prophecyone.us
Parcel ID: 128005

Aerial Mapping:
http://maps.google.com accessed 3/5/2011
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 3/5/2011

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.