Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 2 1/2 story side or eave-entry tripartite barn with a shed-roofed addition. The main facade faces north and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to West Road, which runs approximately north-south. The main entry is a pair of double-height swinging hinged doors in the middle of three bays. Above the doors in the north eave-facade is a repeated feature found so far only in Columbia; a transom covered with boards that appears to be top hinged and swinging. The flanking bays are blank except for recessed flush-boards in the bays on the first level. The west gable-facade of the barn is blank except for a dropped girt line siding divide and recessed flush-boards on the first level. The south eave-facade has a pair of double-height swinging hinged doors in the middle of three bays with the same transom cover. Extending to the west from the west gable-facade is a shed-roofed addition that encompasses the entire width of the facade. The barn has recently restored, unpainted, flush-board siding, an asphalt shingled roof and an un-mortared field-stone foundation.

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.

Field Notes

An original barn.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Stone Walls

Environment features

• Open Land
• Residential
• Rural
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is in front of and to the southwest of the house it is associated with. The ridge-line of the house and barn are parallel with one another; east-west. A driveway is in between the house and barn. To the south of the barn is a fenced tract of open space, also partially bordered by stone walls. To the east is a tract of open space with stone walls. The total size of the area is 1.5 acres. The area surrounding the site is residential, light agriculture, open space and dense woodland.

M/P = 026//010

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Fieldstone
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

1008 S.F.

Date Compiled

08/04/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust

Sources

Photographs and field notes by Janice Thibodeau.
Additional photographs by Judy Ortiz.

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 the Columbia, CT, retrieved on August 4, 2010 from website www.zillow.com.

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