Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½ story side or eave-entry bank barn with a gable roofed addition. The front eave-facade has a pair of hinged doors in the center bay. Above the doors is a siding divide that runs the entire length of the barn. In the center of the left bay is a round window. To the right of the door, centered in the right bay is a second round window. There appears to be two window openings to the left of a pass-through door in the far right corner of the right bay. Off of the right gable-end is a gable-roofed addition with a fixed six-paned window on its front eave-facade. The left gable-end has a round window at the peak of the gable. The barn has an un-mortared fieldstone foundation and a tin roof. It is clad with board-and-batten siding and is painted red.

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

The house is currently a Bed and Breakfast inn. Our thinking is that it was part of the very prosperous Waterman Farm in the early 1800's, and maybe older. I am doing what I can to help it as it is now part of our Old Fitch Farm Vineyard and Fitchclaremont Vineyard B&B. - Warren Strong Use & Accessibility:visible from rd Historic: agriculture Environment: residential Related Features: stone walls Threats: developers Type & Material: field stone, verticle siding Roof Material: asphalt shingle,tin Roof Type: gable Typology: english Structural system: wood frame Layout System: square rule

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• agriculture

---

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Shed
• Stone Walls

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Residential
• Rural
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is behind and to the north of the house with which it is associated. The ridgeline of the house is parallel to the ridgeline of the barn. To the north of the barn is a paddock demarcated by a stone wall. Further north is a large tract of open space. The lot to the east appears to be in active agriculture. The area surrounding the site is residential, active agriculture, open space and woodland.

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Board & Batten
• Fieldstone

---

Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Tin

---

Roof type

• Gable

---

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

03/22/2010

Compiled By

T. Levine and S. Lessard, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Robin Berry - 12/07/2009.
Additional notes and photographs by Warren Strong, 2013.

Aerial views from Bing Maps http://www.bing.com/maps access 8/12/2013.

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.