Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:

This is a 1 ½ story eave-entry barn with its western eave-façade facing Bozrah Street. The ridge-line of the barn runs north-south parallel to the road. The main façade of the barn is the western eave-façade with the main entrance at the center through a pair of hinged wagon doors. The façade also has two pairs of six-over-six double-hung sash windows, one each on either side of the main entrance. The northern gable-façade of the barn has two pairs of two-over-two double-hung sash windows equally spaced at the first floor level. The grade level along the façade gradually drops towards the east exposing the stone masonry pillar foundation below.
The wooden frame of the barn is raised on stone masonry pillar foundation. The barn has metal sheet cladding on the walls and asphalt shingle roofing.

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

Use & Accessibility:visible from road Environment:residential, rural Related Features:barn Threats:development Type & Material:verticle siding, field stone Roof Material:asphalt shingle Roof Type:gable

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Stone Walls

Environment features

• Residential
• Rural
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The property is towards the east of Bozrah Street surrounded by dense woodland and the grade level gradually dropping towards the east, away from the road. The property is flanked by a residential plot towards its south and Lewits Farm towards the north.

The barn is towards the western edge of the property abutting to Bozrah Street. A small gable-roof shed can be seen towards the east of the barn with the main residence of the property towards the south.

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

• Load-bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

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Roof type

• Gable

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Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

07/20/2010

Compiled By

T. Levine and M. Patnaik, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photographs and field notes provided by – Robin Barry

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