Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2 story gable-entry bank barn with a small shed-roofed addition. The main facade faces east and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to this portion of Somers Road, which runs approximately north-south. The main entry is a pair of swinging hinged doors in the center of the east gable-facade. The doors appear to have blacksmithed hardware. Above the doors is a seventeen-pane transom. Towards the south corner of the east gable-facade is a pass-through door with blacksmithed hardware. To the north of the main entry is a three-pane window and a pass-through door. Centered in the gable attic is a set of two eight-pane arched windows. The shed-roofed addition extends to the south from the east corner of the south eave-facade. Centered in the south facade of the addition is an interesting twelve-pane square and diamond-shaped window. This window is repeated four times just beneath the eave of the south eave-facade of the main barn. The grade declines sharply west of the addition on the south eave-facade, revealing a basement level. On the main floor of the south eave-facade are three sets of four-pane windows. The basement level has two overhead garage doors towards the west corner. The barn has vertical flush-board siding painted brown and an asphalt shingled roof.

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.

The 19th century also 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 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

n/a

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Carriage House

Environment features

• Open Land
• Residential
• Rural
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is besides and to the north of the house it is associated with. The ridge-line of the house is parallel to the ridge-line of the barn. Both structures front Somers Road to the east. To the south of the barn, in-between the barn and the house, is a small carriage house made of stone and clapboards with a conical tower. Fronting the yard between the barn and carriage house is a white picket fence. To the west of the barn is a small tract of open space that turns to the north. To the west of the house is a tract of open space. Further west is dense woodland. Across Somers Road to the east is dense woodland. The area is light agriculture, scattered residential, open space and woodland.

Building Typology

• New England Bank

Materials

• Vertical Siding

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

2700 S.F.

Date Compiled

08/11/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust

Sources

Photographs by Carol Roffey croffey@comcast.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.

Vision Appraisal Online Database. www.visionappraisal.com/Ellingtonct.

Map of Ellington, CT, retrieved on August 11, 2010 from website www.zillow.com.