Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 2 1/2 story side or eave-entry bank barn with a shed-roofed addition. The main facade faces south and the ridge-line of the barn is parallel to this portion of Muddy Brook road, which runs approximately east-west. The main entry is in the easternmost bay in the basement level of the south eave-facade of the barn. It is an overhead garage door. Off center towards the west half of the barn is a Dutch pass-through door and a six-pane window with trim. The rest of the south eave-facade is blank except for a six-pane window, with trim, centered in the second level. The ground grades up sharply at the southeast corner to the main level. The east gable-facade has a shed-roofed addition that is flush with the north eave-facade and extends past the south eave-facade to the south. It has a series of stable windows and the extension has a gable roof with a Dutch pass-through door at the gable-facade. The second level of the facade appears blank. In the gable attic are two-pane windows flanking a centered vent. The grade rises at the northeast corner. The north eave-facade of the barn has a X-braced exterior sliding door off center to the west and a pass-through door. The rest of the facade is blank. The grade drops away sharply at the northwest corner of the barn. The west gable-facade appears to have a pair of double X-braced doors in the center flanked by Dutch pass-through doors. In the gable attic is a vent. The barn has vertical flush-board painted red with white trim and the roof has projecting overhangs with small brackets as well as 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

Series of Barns

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Carriage House
• Cupola
• Garage
• Other
• Shed

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Open Land
• Residential
• Rural
• Scattered Buildings
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is behind and to the north of the house it is associated with. The ridge-line of the hipped roofed house is perpendicular to the ridge-line of the barn. To the east of the house is a smaller hip-roofed building (photograph 3). A basketball court is the the north of the hip-roofed building which branches to the main facade of the barn in the form of a driveway. To the northwest of the house is an in-ground pool. To the northeast of the barn is a gambrel-roofed barn with a gambrel-roofed addition that appears to be used as either a residence or workspace, built in 1988 (photograph 4 & 5). To the west of the afore mentioned structure is a small pond. To the north of the barn is a small gable-roofed shed and large tracts of open space. Within the open space is another small pond and paddocks. The area is scattered residential, active agriculture, open space and woodland.

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Vertical Siding

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

1890 S.F.

Date Compiled

08/08/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust

Sources

Photographs and field notes by Carol Roffey.

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 the Ellington, CT, retrieved on August 8, 2010 from website www.zillow.com.