Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a Victorian 1 ½-story eave-entry cross-gable bank barn.  The primary façade of the barn faces southeast, and it is aligned parallel to Main Street, which passes this property at a northeast to southwest angle.  A small 1-bay 1-story gable-roof addition is attached to the north gable-end of the barn.

The primary façade of this barn is the southeast eave-side, which contains the main entries.  These entries consist of a pair of hinged garage-style wooden panel doors.  Each door has two rows of three window panes each in the top portion.  A simple crown molding is mounted the length of the façade over these paired doors.  A small wooden access door is centered above the north pair of hinged doors.  A large gable wall dormer, with simply-decorated vergeboard, is centered on the roof of the façade.  Centered within this dormer is a pedimented arch window.  The southwest gable-end has five single-pane windows evenly spaced.  A six-over-six double-hung window is centered in the southwest gable-end.  Above this window, centered beneath the roof ridgeline, is a small pedimented arch window, similar to the one found in the façade dormer.  West of the gable-end is the cross-gable wall, which contains a single six-over-six double-hung window.  The ground slopes down from east to west.  The second story on the façade and the southwest gable end is clad in ornamental slate shingles.

The northwest gable-end of the barn exposes the full basement level.  The exterior siding continues all the way to the ground level on this end.  A wide-width door appears to be present near the north corner.  A window opening is centered beneath the roof ridgeline within the gable-attic.  The remainder of this northwest cross gable-end appears blank.  The northeast gable-end partially exposes the basement level as the ground slopes down from east to west.  The exposed portion of the basement level contains a single six-pane stationary window.  The first story contains a single six-over-six double-hung window off-center to the west under the eave portion of this end.  Two six-over-six double-hung windows are present on the eastern gabled portion of this end, however, these are beneath the roof of the small gable-roof addition.  A six-over-six double-hung window is centered in the gable-attic.  Above this window is a small pedimented arch window, centered beneath the roof ridgeline.  The second story beneath the gable on this northeast end is also clad in decorative slate shingles.  The addition is a single-bay in width and open on the southeast side.  Both the northeast gable-end and the northwest eave-side are blank.  A small pent roof extension runs the length of the addition eave along the open southeast side.

This barn is very highly ornamented on the exterior walls and roof.  The first story on the southwest, southeast and the eastern half of the northeast sides is clad in horizontal clapboard wooden siding.  The western half of the northeast side, the northwest end, and the exposed basement level is clad in narrow-width vertical wooden flush-board siding.  The second story, within the gabled portion of the northeast side and along the entire southwest wall, is clad in slate shingles, up to the sill of the pedimented arch attic window.  The slate courses even with the double-hung window within each gable are fish-scale slates, while the courses above and below the window are hexagonal slates.  On the northeast and southwest gable ends, the area from the sill of the pedimented arch window to the ridgeline is clad in wooden octagonal shingles.  The second story of the façade, above the crown molding, is clad in diamond-shaped slate tiles, up to the sill of the pedimented arch window within the dormer.  From this sill upward to the dormer ridgeline, the wall is clad in wooden octagonal shaped shingles.  The addition is clad in wooden rectangular shingles.  All siding and wooden wall shingles are freshly painted red.  Doors, vergeboard, window frames and trim, and the façade crown molding are all painted white.  The slate is of a dark gray color.  The foundation is primarily mortared fieldstone.  The northeast gable-end of the addition has a brick foundation. 

The roof appears to be entirely clad in rectangular slate shingles, of the same color as those found on the second-story walls.  The eaves of the rear-facing gable have exposed rafter rails.  Atop the roof, where the cross-gable ridgelines intersect, is a square cupola.  The cupola base is clad with rectangular shingles.  This cupola has square louvered vents on each of the four sides.  Above the projecting flared eaves of the cupola is a steeply pitched pyramidal roof topped with a weathervane.  The cupola roof is covered with decorative fish-scale and rectangular slates. 

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 would see 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

The house on the property was built by Ezekiel Thompson in 1736. Successive owners included a Capt. Joseph Hawley and an Abner Bidwell. The latter was a successful merchant and real estate entrepreneur involved with the building of the Farmington Canal. One of the owners was purported to be a roofer. This may explain the extravagant use of a variety of slate tiles on not only the roof but on the upper story of the 2-story 25'W X 21'L barn set back from the house. Barn foundation is brownstown/fieldstone except for the added shed which has a brick foundation. Siding is mostly vertical wood on the first floor; slate and wood on the upper story. Slate roof and a decorative cupola. Historic use was primarily horse stalls and carriage storage. Current use may involve an apartment rental on the upstairs & garage in shed.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• residence

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

n/a

Environment features

• Commercial
• High Density
• Residential

Relationship to surroundings

The primary façade of the barn on this property is the southeast eave-side, which is parallel to Main Street.  The barn is located almost directly behind the farmhouse associated with it and is rather difficult to see from the road.  This barn is located in the very heart of the town of Farmington and is now completely surrounded by dense development.  Access from Main Street to the barn is provided by a U-shaped gravel driveway which loops around the back of the house, with a wide spot for parking in front of the barn doors.  Wooden fences mark the property line between this lot and the surrounding parcels on all sides.  The area immediately behind the barn, to the northwest, is a small grassy lawn.  To the northwest and northeast, a parking lot for the adjacent businesses is located immediately beyond the wooden fence.  A 2-story hotel is located behind the property and adjacent parking lot, wrapping around from the north to the west.  A series of larger houses with similar sized lots extend down Main Street to the southwest from this property on the same side of the street.  Main Street is a primarily residential street extending to the southwest.  Just to the northeast of this property is Farmington Avenue (Route 4), a major thoroughfare in town, which is lined with commercial establishments.

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Brick
• Clapboard
• Fieldstone
• Flush-board
• Other
• Vinyl Siding

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Slate

Roof type

• Gable
• Other

Approximate Dimensions

BARN: 25’ x 41’

Date Compiled

04/09/2011

Compiled By

N. Nietering & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photographs by Meyer/Macomber and Todd Levine.

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, 213 pages.

Map of Farmington, CT, retrieved on April 9, 2011 from website www.bing.com.

Farmington Assessor’s Records - online - http://www.farmington-ct.org/landrecords/search.php