Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

• State Historic Resource Inventory
• State Register

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2 story eave-entry barn with a cross-gable addition and a gable-roofed addition. The main facade faces south and the ridge-line of the main portion of the barn runs perpendicular to this portion of South Road, which runs approximately north-south. The main entry is a pair of exterior sliding doors in the center of the exposed portion of the south eave-facade of the barn. To the west of the main entry is a pass-through door with a hood. To the west of the pass-through door, extending to the south, is the gable-roofed addition.

The ridge-line of the addition runs north-south and the gable-facade of the addition has three six-pane windows; two in the main level and one in the gable attic. The east eave-face of the addition has an exterior sliding pass-through door towards the south corner. A small hay door is to the north of the door. To the north of the aforementioned portion of the east eave-facade of the gable-roofed addition is a split level; the low portion of the split level has two open wagon bays and the upper portion of the split level has two side-hinged hay doors. The west eave-facade of the gable-roofed addition is blank.

The west gable-facade of the main barn is blank except for an opening in the gable attic. Extending north from the east half of the north eave-facade of the main barn is the cross-gable addition. The west half of the north eave-facade of the main barn is blank, as is the west eave-facade of the cross-gable addition. North of the blank west half of the north eave-facade of the main barn is the base of a silo. The north gable-facade of the cross-gable addition has a pair of exterior sliding doors, each with a sic-pan window insert, in the east half of the facade. Beneath the apex of the roof is a six-pane hopper window. The west eave-facade of the cross-gable addition has a passed-through door towards the north corner and a series of six-pane windows. The east gable-facade of the main barn has a shed-roofed addition, which continues the series of sic-pane windows, as well as a pass-through door in the center of the series. In the gable attic of the main barn is a six-pane window.

The barn and additions have vertical flush-board siding painted red with white trim except for the east gable attic of the main barn, which has unpainted wood shingles. The roof of the entries structure is covered with asphalt shingles. The foundation of the additions is concrete block masonry.

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

Listed on the State Register of Historic Places 9/04/2013. Main Barn, early 19th century, English Typography. Six additional barn structures on same property. This is a cluster of barns including the main English barn with a smaller New England barn and a wagon shed.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Original Site

Related features

• Barn
• Other
• Shed

Environment features

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

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is slightly behind and to the northeast of the house it is associated with. The ridge-line of the house is perpendicular to the main ridge-line of the barn. A drive runs in between the house and the barn, east-west, and continues past to a three-bay wagon shed to the east of the barn. To the southeast of the barn is a pair of small sheds. To the south of the house are two more sheds. To the north of the barn is a small pond. To the north, northeast and east of the barn are large tracts of open space. Further to the east is woodland. The assessors card has 1 barn and 9 sheds listed, but it appears as if they are counting each addition as a separate shed. The area is active agricultural, residential, open space and woodland.

Building Typology

• English
• English/New England Hybrid

Materials

• Concrete Block
• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

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Roof type

• Gable

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Approximate Dimensions

BRN1 Barn 644 SF - 22' x 48' SHD1 Shed 1026 SF SHD1 Shed 884 SF

Date Compiled

08/18/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust

Sources

Photographs and field notes by Dianne Bordeaux Lenti.

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/somersct.

Map of Somers, CT, retrieved on August 18, 2010 from website www.zillow.com.