Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:
Underneath the antique cola signs and vinyl siding is a 1 and 1/2 story eave or side entry barn, painted red. The barn has vertical siding and appears to have a sliding door hood. The structure has two attached shed-roofed additions, one on either gable end. Both sheds and the barn have metal roofs. The interior structure is comprised of hand-hewn post and beams with pegged mortise and tenon joinery.

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 simples building with a 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, 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. 

30x24 barn/ 16.5x24 att shed/ 7x24 att shed/ 10’ diameter gazebo/ 40x60 barn 1987/ 8x60 att shed.

Field Notes

Barn at the front of the property is an old structure re-used as an antique shop. To the rear is a new post and beam structure also part of the shop. Proprietor also owns 2191 Boston Turnpike across the street.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• retail

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn

Environment features

• Commercial
• Residential

Relationship to surroundings

n/a

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Aluminum Siding
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Post & Beam
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Tin

Roof type

• Gable
• Shed

Approximate Dimensions

Barn 30 ' x 24' with a 16'6" x 24' attached shed and a 7' x 24' attached shed/ 10' diameter gazebo. A 40' x 60 'barn built in 1987 also has an attached shed, measuring 8' x 60'.

Date Compiled

09/09/2009

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photographs by Charlotte R. Hitchcock
Town of Coventry assessor’s office
Visser, Thomas D.,Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings, University Press of New England,1997.