93 Old Post Road, Clinton (Eastern Coastal Slope)

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:

This is a 1 1/2 story, three bay, side- or eave-entry bank barn with two gable-roofed additions and one shed-roofed addition. The main facade faces east with its ridgeline running north-south. The main entrance appears to be a pair of single-height exterior sliding doors with a transom above in the east eave-facade’s middle bay. The east eave-facade’s north and south bays are blank. The grade begins to slope down in the middle to south bays, exposing the mortared fieldstone foundation on the basement level in the south bay.

The barn is built into the grade, exposing the entire basement level on the south gable-facade. A single-height exterior sliding door is centered in the basement level, opening to the east. The first floor on the south gable facade is bank. Centered below the south gable-facade’s apex there appears to be a fixed window.

The west eave-facade is built up on a fieldstone foundation. The foundation has multiple six-pane windows un-evenly spaced across the facade. The north bay on the west eave-facade is blank and has new vertical siding. The south bay is also blank.

The middle bay on the west eave-facade has a series of window groupings in four evenly spaced rows spread vertically from the first floor to the eave. Starting from the bottom, the first row appears to have a grouping of six-over-six double-hung windows. The second and third rows have groupings of fixed six-pane windows. Above the third row there appears to be either a hood or exterior track, possibly indicating the original location of a barn door. The fourth row has a single five-paned transom below the overhanging eave in the middle bay of the west eave-facade.

The north gable-facade has the first of two gable-roofed additions projecting north off the middle and eastern-most end of the facade. The first addition is raised on a fieldstone foundation. The west eave-facade of the gable-roofed addition has five, fixed six-pane stable windows, a boarded up window and an exterior sliding door off-center on the first floor. Four of the windows are located south of the door. The fifth six-pane window and the boarded up window are north of the door. There appears to be a haymow door and a six-pane window on the second floor of the west eave facade. The west eave-facade has unpainted vertical and board and batten siding.

The second gable-roofed addition projects east off the north gable-facade and the east eave-facade of the first gable-roofed addition, creating an L-shaped plan. The second gable-roofed addition has a shed-roofed addition projecting south, flush with the south eave-facade.

The north eave-facade of the connected gable-roofed additions appear to be blank accept for what appears to be a boarded up pass-through door on the west half of the facade, above the fieldstone foundation.

The barn and addition, have unpainted vertical siding, fieldstone foundations and asphalt shingle roofs. The gable-roofed additions also have sections of unpainted board and batten siding.

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

This barn has been restored and is used, off and on, as an art gallery. Well maintained.

Use (Historic)

agriculture

Use (Present)

re-use

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

Environment features

Residential

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is located west of the associated house. It faces east with its ridgeline running north-south, perpendicular to Old Post Road. The additions face south with the ridgeline of the cross-gable running east-west, parallel to the street. The barn is located in a residential area.

Building Typology

Materials

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

07/13/2010

Compiled By

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

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Marye Wagner (wagner04@snet.net)- 12/28/2010

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.

Historic Barns of Connecticut

Barn Record Clinton