Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

• State Historic Resource Inventory

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This bull barn is believed to have been built when the property was still the Town Farm. The breeding chute, to the left of the entry, is notable for incorporating a raised roof to allow bulls to keep their weight off of their mounts.

This peak-roofed barn stands with its gable ends to the east and west; rolling barn door on north façade. The framework is of milled timbers. The barn contains three wooden bull stalls, each with a turnout, and a breeding chute with a raised roof. Floor is wood plank.

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.

Field Notes

Materials: Vertical board (tongue and groove). Historic use: Bull barn. Present use: Vacant. Style: Vernacular barn.

Use (Historic)

• animals, not listed

Use (Present)

• unknown

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Original Site

Related features

• Barn
• Silo
• Stone Walls

Environment features

• Open Land
• Rural
• Scattered Buildings

Relationship to surroundings

Bull barn stands about 25 yards to the east of the almshouse. Fields spread to the east and south; distant views in all directions. Line of fir trees on north side of unpaved drive running east to bull barn.

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

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Roof type

• Gable

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Approximate Dimensions

20 x 14 1 story plus

Date Compiled

10/07/2008

Compiled By

Rachel Carley

Sources

Litchfield Tax Assessor Records
Interview with Michael Birden 10/07
Interview with Martin Wilcox 10/07

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.