Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:

This is a 1 ½ story multi-bay barn with entries from both the eave-side and the gable-side. The barn has a concrete-block silo connected by a shed-roof addition towards the west of the northern eave-façade. The northern eave-façade of the barn faces Bunker Hill Road while its ridge-line runs east-west parallel to the road. The main façade of the barn is the northern eave-façade with the main entrance towards the east through a pair of double-height hinged wagon doors. A single-pane square window insert can be seen towards the west of the main door entrance. The façade has the concrete block silo mounted by octagonal roof off-centered towards the west and connected to the main barn by the shed-roof addition towards the west. Concrete block masonry foundation can be seen along the northern eave-façade of the shed–roof addition. The western gable-façade of the barn has an entrance towards the south through an exterior-hung sliding wagon door. The façade has a paired horizontal eight-pane stable window towards the east of the sliding door entrance. A similar paired horizontal eight-pane stable window can be seen on the western side-wall of the shed-roof addition, flush with the western gable-façade of the main barn towards the north. The western gable-façade of the barn has a hinged hay door towards the north just below a distinct girt siding divide line separating the gable attic above. The façade has exposed concrete block masonry foundation with white pointing can be seen along the grade level of the façade. The barn has a cupola mounted by a weather vane at the center of the roof.
The wooden frame of the barn is supported on concrete block masonry foundation. The barn has red painted vertical siding 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 New England barn or gable front barn was the successor to the English barn and relies on a gable entry rather than an entry under the eaves. The gable front offers many practical advantages. Roofs drain off the side, rather than flooding the dooryard. Although it was seen by many as an improvement over the earlier side entry English Barn, the New England barn did not replace its predecessor but rather coexisted with it. It this case, both an eave entry and a gable entry are used.

Field Notes

Plaque on house - George M. Davis 1865

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

---

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Cupola
• Shed
• Silo

Environment features

• Open Land
• Rural

Relationship to surroundings

The property is towards the south Bunker Hill Road with a narrow frontage but broadens towards the south to form a large farmland. It has a residential plot towards the east and the west. Barns and farm land can be seen towards the north of the property across the road.

The barn is situated towards the northern edge of the property abutting to Bunker Hill Road. A row of trees can be seen towards the east of the barn and a gable-roof shed towards the south.

Building Typology

• English
• English/New England Hybrid

Materials

• Vertical Siding

---

Structural System

• Load-bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

---

Roof type

• Gable
• Shed

---

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

07/23/2010

Compiled By

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

Sources

Photographs and information provided by –
Thomas L. Lentz, thomas.lentz@yale.edu

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.