Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

• National Register

Historic Significance

Architectural Significance:

The farmhouse is one of several buildings which were on the site when the Harknesses started building in 1907. In addition, there is a large frame hay barn with board siding, a small poured-concrete dairy barn, and a small clapboarded building now used as a garage.

The hay barn (A) is a 1 ½ story English barn with a gable-roofed addition at one end. Siding is vertical flush boards painted red.

The dairy barn (B) is a 1 story stuccoed brick and concrete gable-roofed structure with a tall arched opening in the gable end. Six-over-six double hung windows are placed on either side of the arch and also in a row of 7-8 along the eave side façade. A double stable door is located near the opposite end of the long eave-side. A small cupola at the ridge and a chimney project through the roof.

Additional barns and greenhouses are briefly described in the National Register nomination.

Historic Significance:

The hay barn: 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.

Dairy barn: The term dairy barn is used as early as the 18th century (along with “cow house”). Modern dairy barns are characterized by their interior arrangements of stanchions and gutters to facilitate milking and the removal of manure.  In some cases this is just a few stalls in the corner of a barn, in others it can be a large barn dedicated to that single purpose.

Carriage barn: Until the 1830’s, the horses used for riding and driving carriages were often kept in the main barn along with the other farm animals. By the 1850’s, some New England farmers built separate horse stables and carriage houses. Early carriage houses were built just to shelter a carriage and perhaps a sleigh, but no horses. The pre-cursor to the twentieth-century garage, these outbuildings are distinguished by their large hinged doors, few windows, and proximity to the dooryard. The combined horse stable and carriage house continued to be a common farm building through the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, until automobiles became common.

Field Notes

Gentleman farm - Dairy, Milk house/creamery attached behind gentleman's farm house. 4 buildings Photo #1: North side (backside) of building visible from road Photo #5: Historic use Poultry Not visible from road, but accessible to the public. Photographs taken on December 15, 2009 Greenhouse with shed. Historic use: gentleman. Not visible from road, but accessible to public.

Use (Historic)

• gentleman

Use (Present)

• re-use

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Original Site

Related features

• Barn
• Carriage House
• Garage
• Garden
• Other

Environment features

• Open Land
• Scattered Buildings

Relationship to surroundings

The land, formerly an estate and now a state park, is largely open. Winding through the estate are narrow roads lined by stone walls and plantings of tall deciduous trees. There are four principal kinds of landscaping: lawns and tall trees surround the mansion; shrubs, flower beds, and gardens; beaches and salt marsh; and open fields. There is also a small woodlot across Great Neck Road.

Building Typology

• New England

Materials

• Brick
• Clapboard
• Concrete
• Stucco
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Other
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

Roof type

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

03/16/2010

Compiled By

Charlotte Hitchcock, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photography by Kathya Landeros 12/09/2009

Clouette, Bruce, Herzan, John; National Register Nomination No. 86003331, National Park Service, 1986, photographs by Mary McCahon.

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.