Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 2 1/2 story gable-entry barn. The main façade of the barn faces roughly and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to Great Hill Road, which at this point runs northeast-southwest. Maintaining the barn’s symmetrical appearance, each eave-side has an attached shed that runs nearly the entire length of the wall. The main entry appears to be a pair of double-height doors in the centered of the east gable-facade.  Centered above the entry is a side-hinged hay door with wrought iron hardware. Above it is a fixed, 15-pane sash. The north eave-side of the barn appears to have no openings. The shed is in poor condition, with many substantial spaces in the siding. The west gable-end appears blank. The south eave-side of the barn appears to have three windows above the shed-roof additions. The barn has vertical, unpainted board and batten siding. The roof has asphalt shingles. The foundation appears to be concrete block masonry.

Historical significance:

The New England barn or gable front barn was the successor to the English barn and relies on a gable entry rather than an entry under the eaves. The gable front offers many practical advantages. Roofs drain off the side, rather than flooding the dooryard. With the main drive floor running parallel to the ridge, the size of the barn could be increased to accommodate larger herds by adding additional bays to the rear gable end. Although it was seen by many as an improvement over the earlier side-entry English Barn, the New England barn did not replace its predecessor but rather coexisted with it, as both types continued to be built.

Field Notes

barn was a sawmill and is now a sculptor's workspace; rural, woodland; siding - viertical and board and batten, post and beam, roof gable and asphalt shingle; English barn with lean-tos; sawmill on site in 1852, new foundation recent which raised barn; old lean-tos attached to either side; Sources: Town of Guilford; Guilford Preservation Alliance "Survey of the Historic Architecture of Guilford" 1981

Use (Historic)

• mill

Use (Present)

• workspace

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

n/a

Environment features

• Residential
• Rural
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is located on a 1-acre parcel on the west side of Great Hill Road.  To the south is the house, built in 1900, with which it is associated.  A creek, running northwest-southeast, travels through the property not more than one hundred feet southwest of the house.  On Great Hill Road, the creek is spanned by a small fieldstone bridge. The property is bordered by heavy woods.  To the southeast is Menuckatuck Reservoir. The surrounding area is rural, with heavily wooded areas, and clusters of small settlements with historic homes, barns, and outbuildings.
M/P 121002

Building Typology

• Mill
• New England

Materials

• Concrete
• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

• Post & Beam

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

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Roof type

• Gable

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Approximate Dimensions

357 sq. ft.

Date Compiled

03/02/2011

Compiled By

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

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Penny Colby: 5/27/2009.

Town of Guilford Assessor’s Record:
http://www.prophecyone.us

GIS Viewer http://www.guilfordgis.com
Parcel ID: 121002

Aerial Mapping:
http://maps.google.com accessed 3/2/2011
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 3/2/2011.

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.