Barn Record Ellington
RETURN TO ‘FIND BARNS’
- Overview
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Designations
Historic Significance
Architectural description:
This is a 2 1/2 story side or eave-entry connected barn with a shed-roofed addition. The main facade faces west and the ridge-line of the structure is perpendicular with this portion of Maple Road, which runs approximately east-west. The main entry is an exterior sliding door with a hooded track towards the north corner of the west eave-facade. The middle of the facade has a set of three eight-pane windows. Towards the south corner of the west eave-facade is a set of two nine-pane windows. A siding divide beneath the eave circles the entire barn structure. The west eave-facade has a detailed cornice. The north gable-facade has a two-pane window off center to the west. Centered in the gable attic is a six-pane window with trim. The roof has returning eaves with square corner posts with capitals. The east eave-facade has a shed-roofed addition with an open bay to the south currently used as a garage at the north corner. Towards the middle of the main level are two multiple-pane windows. Above in the second level, towards the south of the east eave-facade, are two six-over-six double hung windows. The south gable-facade is entirely encompassed by the attached house. The barn has vertical flush-board siding painted tan with white trim. the roof has a projecting overhang with soffits and an asphalt shingle roof.
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.
Connected barns tied all of the functions of a farmstead - home, hearth, workplace and barn - into a series of linked buildings. This is the “big house, little house, back house, barn” of nursery rhymes.
Field Notes
Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation's Barns Grant pre-app 2009 Listed as a contributing resource in the National Register of Historic Places Ellington Center Historic District. From the NR nomination: 121-123 Maple Street 1829 32-33-1 c. 1812 S Timothy Pitkin Store Description: 2-story frame Greek Revival store with added wraparound Colonial Revival porch. Post Office here 1829-1837. (Photograph 14) Barn 1850 2-story frame building attached to house that continues size and shape of house. Shed c. 1900 V
- Use & Accessibility
- Environment
Related features
n/a
Environment features
Relationship to surroundings
The barn is connected to the house it is associated with. The house fronts Maple Road to the south. To the west of the barn is a private road that leads north to a cemetery. The area is residential with light commercial, active agriculture, open space and woodland.
- Typology & Materials
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Building Typology
Materials
Structural System
Roof materials
Roof type
Approximate Dimensions
50 ft x 75 ft
- Source
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Date Compiled
08/06/2010
Compiled By
Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust
Sources
Photographs by Pamela Strohm-Gordon.
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.
Map of Ellington, CT, retrieved on August 6, 2010 from website www.zillow.com.
Ransom, David, National Register of Historic Places Nomination #415156, 11/15/1990. Item No. 90001754 NRIS (National Register Information System)
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/90001754.pdf
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Photos/90001754.pdf - PhotosClick on image to view full file
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