Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2 story gambrel-roofed side or eave-entry bank barn. The main facade faces northeast and the ridge-line is parallel to this portion of Route 87, which runs approximately southeast-northwest. The main entry is a double height overhead garage door towards the north corner, accessed by a cement ramp. The rest of the facade is blank. The northwest gable-facade has a six-over-six double hung window on the main level. Above and beneath the girt line siding divide is a centered side-hinged hay door. In the gable attic is a two-pane window. The southeast gable-facade grade drops away sharply at the south corner resulting in an un-mortared retaining wall that abuts the barns mortared field-stone exposed foundation. The basement level on the southeast gable-facade is two open bays. In the main level is a six-over-six double hung window. In the gable attic is six-over-six double hung window flanked by twelve-pane windows. The barn has vertical flush-board siding painted red and a mortared field-stone foundation. The roof has a slight overhang and asphalt 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

Behind white house. Built in late 1800's. All original except for front door. Post and Beam.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Stone Walls

Environment features

• Residential
• Rural
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is behind and to the southeast of the house it is associated with. The ridge-line of the house is parallel with the barn. To the south of the house and east of the barn is a yard. Extending from the barn to the west corner of the site is a stone wall. Further south is woodland. The house fronts Route 87. The total size of the site is 2.5 acres. The area is residential, active agriculture, open space and woodland.

M/P = 017//061a

Building Typology

• English Bank
• Gambrel

Materials

• Fieldstone
• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

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Roof type

• Gambrel

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Approximate Dimensions

616 S.F.

Date Compiled

08/01/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust

Sources

Photographs and field notes by Janice Thibodeau.

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.

Map of Columbia, CT, retrieved on August 1, 2010 from website www.zillow.com.

Town of Columbia assessors office, 323 Route 87, Columbia, CT 06237.