Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2-story eave-entry bank barn. The main facade faces west and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to this portion of Hampton Road, which runs east-west. The main entry is a pair of double-height exterior sliding doors, located at the northwest corner of the west eave-facade of the barn. Just off-center to the south is a pass-through door with trim. To the south of the door are two twelve-pane windows. Above windows are four small single-pane windows.  A mortared field-stone foundation is exposed is evident at the southwest corner. The grade at the south gable-end declines, revealing a basement level. The basement level has a series of six-pane windows. A cement foundation is evident. The main level of the south gable-end of the barn has a sliding pass-through door at the southwest corner. There are two nine-pane windows towards the corners. There appears to be board at the dropped girt line siding line. There is a centered frame, that has been filled with clapboards, that may have been used as a double-height wagon door. The rest of the south gable-end is blank except for a six-over-six double-hung window just beneath the apex of the roof. The basement level of the east eave-side of the barn has a series of six-pane windows with an open bay at the north corner and a pas-through door at the south corner. The main level of the east eave-side of the barn has Two sets of two six-pane windows with two six-pane windows above, all on the south half of the barn. The rest of the side is blank. The north gable-end of the barn has a centered frame, that has been filled with vertical siding, that may have been used as a double-height wagon door. Beneath the apex of the roof is a two-over-two double-hung window.  The barn has clapboard siding and corner boards painted red, except for the framed area in the north gable-end, which has vertical siding painted red. The roof has a slight projecting overhang and is covered with asphalt shingles. Centered atop the ridge is a cupola. The foundation is mortared field-stone as well as cement.

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

2009 Barns Grant pre-application. Barn has a Chestnut frame, pegged together. Some timbers are up to 40 feet long and hand hewn. Floor joists are also Chestnut. Barn is approximately 40' X 60' with a full cellar, fist floor and second floor hay loft. I have attempted to keep the roof in good shape having shingled the whole roof over the past 10 years. However the foundation is partially giving away and on the south east corner the frame is sagging. Barn is painted red and has a cupola with weather vane and is visually very attractive as seen from Route 97. My house is the second oldest home in Pomfret so the barn likely dated to late 1700 hundreds.

Use (Historic)

• dairy

Use (Present)

• dairy

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Shed
• Shop

Environment features

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

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is behind and to the northwest of the c.1732 house it is associated with. The ridge-line of the house is perpendicular to the ridge-line of the barn. North of the barn is a large farming complex, with no less then fifteen farming buildings, although none are listed in the assessors card. To the west of the house is a small yard and a line of trees. Further west is a pair of driveways that leads verge and run to the farming complex. A driveway runs just west of the house to the barn at the north, then by the barn to the west to a junction with a larger dirt driveway, that leads to the farming complex. North of the farming complex is woodland. To the northwest and west of the barn is woodland and tracts of open space. The total size of the site is 7.90 acres. The area surrounding the site is active agriculture, scattered residential, open space and woodland.

Map/Block/Lot : 18/ A/ 008.00/ /

SHD1 Shed 192 S.F.
MLK Milk House 304 S.F.
BRN4 1S Barn - Loft & Bsmt 2400 S.F.
SHD1 Shed 192 S.F.

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Clapboard
• Fieldstone
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Post & Beam
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle
• Slate

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

40 ft x 60 ft 2400 S.F.

Date Compiled

12/10/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust

Sources

Photographs by William Hull.

Map of Pomfret Center, CT, retrieved on December 10, 2010 from website www.bing.com.

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.

Vision Appraisal Online Database. www.visionappraisal.com/pomfretct.