Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½ -story gable-roofed barn structure with a shed-roofed addition.  Oriented with its ridge-line north-south parallel to Fenn Road , the west eave-side of the barn has three bays. Located on the north half of the center bay of the west eave-side is a single pass-through door with a roof hood projecting from the wall above. The center bay is slightly projected forward compared to the north and south bays, both of which are blank. 

Located on the right (east) half of the south gable-end of the barn is a single pass-through door with a hinged screen door and wood roof hood located above.  Flanking the door are square, single-pane, awning windows.  Located in the gable attic of the south gable-end is a four-pane horizontal window. 

Located on the north gable-end of the barn is a full-width shed-roofed addition.  A concrete block chimney rises from the center of the shed-roofed addition along the north gable-end of the barn. The north side of the shed-roofed addition appears to be blank. The west side of the shed-roofed addition has a single pass-through door.

The barn has red aluminum siding on the west eave-side of the barn and of the shed-roofed addition. The south gable-façade and north gable-end of the barn and north side of the shed-roofed addition have unpainted wood shingles. The roof of the barn and shed-roofed addition are 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 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.  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. It this case, both an eave entry and a gable entry are used.

Field Notes

n/a

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• re-use

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Garden
• Other
• Shed

Environment features

• Residential
• Scattered Buildings
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is in front of and to the west of the c. 1900 house and north of the 1954 house which are on the same property. Both houses are 1 ½-story cape or ranch- style buildings. The 1954 house has an attached structure to its southwest, which appears to have been a barn, later converted to residential use. The ridge-lines of the houses and barns are oriented north-south parallel to the road. Immediately to the west of the barn is Fenn Road, which runs north-south at this point, before turning southwest to meet South Main Street. The total size of the site is 1.84 acres. The area surrounding the site is residential and woodland, in the southeastern part of Cheshire.

Building Typology

• English
• English/New England Hybrid

Materials

• Aluminum Siding
• Wood Shingle

Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable
• Shed

Approximate Dimensions

25 x 50 feet

Date Compiled

03/26/2011

Compiled By

A. Ehrgott & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Kristen Young date 08/02/2010.

Town of Cheshire Assessor’s Record http://www.prophecyone.us/fieldcard.php?property_id=2165281
Parcel ID: 91133
GIS Viewer:  http://www.cogcnvgis.com/cheshire/ags_map/

Aerial Mapping:
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 03/26/2011.

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.