Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

• Local Historic District
• National Register
• State Register

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 2-story gable-entry barn with attic. There is a small 1-story shed-roof addition and an enclosed porch on the north side, a 2-story porch on the west end, and a 1-story shed-roof addition on the south side.  The main façade faces east with the ridge-line running east- west, perpendicular to Whitfield Street. The main entry on the east gable-end is a pair of sliding doors set off center to the north. The sliding mechanism appears to be on the inside of the barn. There is a two-over-two double-hung window to the north of the main entry. The second story of the east gable-end of the barn contains a central opening with a sliding door on the south half and four-pane window in the north half. The words “The Green Art Gallery” are attached to the wall to the north of the window. The attic-story contains a vertical two-pane window centered in the gable. The east side of the one-story shed-roof addition is blank. The shed-roof addition extends from the east corner along the north eave-side of the barn. The addition contains a pass-through door with a lantern-style light next to the door. This addition is contiguous with an enclosed porch that extends to the west corner of the barn north side. Structural posts are visible between the siding of the enclosed porch. There is a pass-through door between the eastern most posts. On the second story of the north eave-end is a six-pane window above the shed-roof addition, a pair of six-pane windows centered on the wall above the enclosed porch, and a pair of eight-pane windows near the west corner. On the west gable-end is a two-story hipped-roof porch that appears to be enclosed with screen. On the south eave-side there appears to be a small 1-story shed-roof addition along the east corner.   

The barn is clad in flush-board with plywood vertical siding on the additions and enclosed porch. The barn gable-roof and shed-roof additions are covered with asphalt shingles. There are hanging metal gutters along the barn and shed-roof addition eaves. There is a brick chimney extending from the east end of the barn roof near the ridge. The barn has two shed-roof and two porch additions. Fenestration on the barn has been significantly altered.

Historical significance:

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. With the main drive floor running parallel to the ridge, the size of the barn could be increased to accommodate larger herds by adding additional bays to the rear gable end. 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, as both types continued to be built.

Field Notes

The barn at 29 Whitfield Street, Guilford was built c. 1900 as the carriage barn for the Second Empire French Victorian house (c. 1872) that it sits behind. It has also housed cows and chickens and in 1977 was opened as the The Greene Art Gallery. The gallery is still in business today and has been expanded into a side shed. There is also a residence on the second floor with an added screened porch. On the north side of the barn the gallery has a sculpture garden.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• retail

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

No

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Other

Environment features

• Commercial
• Residential
• Rural

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is located on a .4-acre property in the downtown commercial and residential section of Guilford. To the east of the barn is a large second empire-style Victorian house that is used as a store. The barn and house share a paved driveway and parking lot. There is a fence along the southern border of the property and a lawn area to the west of the buildings. This area of central Guilford is within the Guilford Town Center State and National Historic District.

Building Typology

• New England

Materials

• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Post & Beam

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable
• Hip
• Shed

Approximate Dimensions

Approximately 2000 square feet.

Date Compiled

03/29/2011

Compiled By

W. Davey & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Ellie Green, 07/19/2010.

Town of Guilford Assessor’s Record:
http://www.prophecyone.us/fieldcard.php?property_id=2151579
Parcel ID: 2151579
Map 039098

Aerial Mapping:
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 03/29/2011.

Raiche, Steven J., GUILFORD HISTORIC TOWN CENTER, Nomination No. 76001988. NPS, 1976.

Town Center Historic District (state register)

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.