Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:

This is a 2 ½ story eave-entry barn with its eastern eave-façade facing Middlesex Turnpike. The ridge-line of the barn runs north-south, parallel to the road. The three-bay eastern eave-façade facing the road is the main façade of the barn with two main entrances, one each on the first bay and the second bay from the north. Each main entrance is through a X-braced and battened garage door with a horizontal trim and modillion course above. The third bay from the north has a twelve-over-twelve double-hung sliding window at the first floor level mounted by a similar trim detail as the main entrances. The eastern eave-façade also has two similar twelve-over-twelve double-hung sash windows at the second floor level, one each on the first bay and the third bay from the north. An X-braced and battened hay door can be seen centered at the second floor level. The eastern eave-façade of the barn has the roof projecting out to form a continuous deep soffit along the façade. The northern gable-façade of the barn is symmetrical along the central axis through the apex of the roof. The façade has two twelve-over-twelve double-hung sash windows at the first floor level with a similar twelve-over-twelve double-hung sash window centered in the gable attic. The western eave-façade of the barn has a shed-roofed addition with the side walls flush with the eave-façades of the main barn. A hip-roofed louvered cupola at the center of the roof. The wooden frame of the barn has asphalt roofing and vertical siding walls. 

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 ornamented main façade of the barn with the two garage doors indicate its usage as a carriage house.

Until the 1830s, the horses used for riding and driving carriages were often kept in the main barn along with the other farm animals. By the 1850s, 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. Elaborate carriage houses were also associated with gentlemen farms and country estates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Another form of carriage barn, the urban livery stable, served the needs of tradespeople.

Field Notes

Small, vertical sided barn, asphalt shingles and a cupola on top. The house was built in 1825. [Source:Diane Lindsay]

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• garage

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Cupola
• Shed

Environment features

• Residential

Relationship to surroundings

The property is towards the west of Middlesex Turnpike with the barn accessed by a drive way from the main road. The main residence can be seen towards the north-east of the barn.

St. Joseph Cemetery is across the road with its parking towards the south and south-west of the barn. 

Building Typology

• Carriage House

Materials

• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

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Roof type

• Gable
• Shed

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Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

07/03/2010

Compiled By

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

Sources

Photographs and information provided by –
Diane Lindsay, DianeDaveLindsay@att.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.