Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 2 ½-story gable-roof barn with entries on both eave-side and gable-end. The northern eave-façade of the main barn facing East Liberty street is intersected at the center by another 2 ½-story gable-roof barn. The ridge-line of the main barn runs east-west parallel to the road while that of the intersecting gable-roof barn runs north-south, perpendicular to the road. A 1 ½-story gable-roof barn can be seen towards the north-east of the main barn with ridge-line along north-south, parallel to that of the intersecting gable-roof barn.

The southern eave-façade of the main barn, facing away from the road, is the main façade of the barn. The main entrance to the barn is on the main southern eave-façade through two paired hooded wagon-doors off-centered towards the west. Two four-pane paneled hinged pass-through doors flank the main entrance, one on either side. The façade also has two two-over-two double-hung windows towards the east at the first floor level. A double-leaf hay door can be seen centered on the façade at the second floor level with the eave rising to form a wall dormer. The attic of the wall dormer is separated from the rest of the façade by a horizontal frieze with dentils and has red-painted horizontal siding. The southern eave-façade of the barn also has two smaller wall dormers, one each on either side of the wall dormer at the center. Each of the smaller wall dormers are punctuated by a two-over-two double-hung window.

The eastern gable-end of the main barn has three entrances through three exterior-hung sliding wagon doors mounted by a continuous hood. The façade has two two-over-two double-hung windows at the second floor level, separated by a hay-door at the center, just above the projecting hood. The gable-attic has red-painted horizontal siding and is separated from the rest of the wall by a horizontal frieze with dentils at the lintel level of the two double-hung windows.

The northern eave-side of the main barn is blocked by the gable-roof addition toward its east and has the gable-roof intersection at the center. The façade has two two-over-two double-hung windows towards west at the first floor level and a similar two-over-two double-hung window centered at the second floor level. The northern gable-end of the gable-roof intersection has a pair of exterior-hung sliding wagon doors towards the east and a two-over-two double-hung window towards the west. Three similar two-over-two double-hung windows can be seen on the wall equally spaced at the second floor level. The gable-attic of the north gable-end is separated by red-painted horizontal siding and a horizontal frieze with dentils at the lintel level of the double-hung windows below.

The wooden frame of the barn has asphalt roofing with light yellow painted vertical 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 a simple building with rectangular plan, pitched 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. In this case, both an eave entry and a gable entry are used. The 19th century would see 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 on 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 Queen Anne Victorian house and barn was built by Simeon Brooks in 1889.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn

Environment features

• Residential
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The property is located in a residential area towards the south of East Liberty Street.  The barn complex is along the northern edge of the property with the main residence towards its south. A drive-way flanks the barn on its eastern gable-side and southern eave-side, leading to the main residence.
The property is surrounded by other residential areas separated by thick woodland.

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Clapboard
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

07/11/2010

Compiled By

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

Sources

Photographs and information provided by – Diane Lindsay

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.