Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:

This is a 1 ½ story eave-entry bank barn with a shed-roof addition on its north-western corner. The northern gable-façade of the barn faces Grassy Hill Road while its ridge-line runs north-south perpendicular to the road. Another 1 ½ story eave-entry barn can be seen towards the south-east of the main barn with its ridge-line running east-west parallel to the road.

The main façade of the main bank barn is the eastern eave-façade which has the main entrance at the center through an exterior-hung sliding wagon door. The northern gable-façade of the barn has a distinct siding divide line separating the gable attic and a window opening just below the apex of the roof. The western eave-façade of the barn is marked by a distinct drop in the grade level to create the bank which is accessed by a pass-through door at the center. A single framed six-pane stable window can be seen towards the north of the pass-through door. The horizontal siding on the bank level separates it from the rest of the façade which has vertical siding. Un-mortared un-coursed field-stone masonry has been used to retain the loose earth along the dropped grade level which continues to form an open bank along the southern gable-façade of the barn. The southern gable-façade of the barn is blank apart from the open bank below and a distinct siding divide line separating the gable-attic above.
The wooden frames of the barn and the shed-roof addition have metal roofing. The walls of the main barn have red painted vertical siding and horizontal siding.

The northern eave-façade of the 1 ½ story eave-entry barn towards the south-east of the main barn faces Grassy Hill Road and is the main façade. The main entrance to the barn is on the main northern eave-façade through a pass-through door off-centered towards the west. The façade has two pairs of four-pane windows on either side of the pass-through door. The eastern gable-façade of the barn is blank apart from a similar four-pane window towards the south. The wooden frame of the barn has metal roofing and horizontal siding walls excepting the eastern gable-façade which has wood shingles.

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

Abandoned cape that belongs to red barn.

Use (Historic)

• unknown

Use (Present)

• unknown

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Shed
• Stone Walls

Environment features

• Open Land
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

n/a

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Clapboard
• Fieldstone
• Vertical Siding
• Wood Shingle

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Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Metal

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Roof type

• Gable
• Shed

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Approximate Dimensions

Main gable-roof bank Barn: 600 SqFt, Implementation Shed: 384 SqFt, Other gable-roof Barn: 840 SqFt, Small Shed: 216 SqFt

Date Compiled

07/18/2010

Compiled By

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

Sources

Photographs and information provided by –
Joan Rich, Lymening@sbcglobal.net

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.