Lawton, Stephen, Barn (803 West Main Street (Rte 68 & 70), Cheshire (Central Valley))

Designations

State Register

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½-story eave-entry, gable-roof bank barn with a shed roof addition. The main façade faces approximately north and the ridge-line is parallel to West Main Street which at this point runs approximately east to west.

The main entries are located on the north eave-façade of the barn and consist of two sets of hinged, arched doors with original strap iron hinges. Each leaf has trim and panels which are constructed of diagonal boards. One entry is located near the east corner and the other is located near the west corner. Centered between the doors is a set of arched, two-pane windows with trim. Above each entry is a side-hinged hay door. Breaking the eave and protruding from the north slope of the roof is a gable-roof dormer. Located within this dormer is a round window with trim. The gable has a returning cornice. A sawtooth girt line siding divide separates the gable-roof dormer from the eave-façade of the barn.

The grade drops slightly towards the south along the west gable-end of the barn, revealing a fieldstone foundation. Near the north corner of the west gable-end is an arched, three-pane window with trim. Found in the gable-attic is another arched, three-pane window with trim. A decorative sawtooth girt line siding divide separates the gable-attic from the lower half of this side. The gable-end has a returning cornice.

The grade drops again towards the south, revealing a full basement level on the south eave-side of the barn. It appears there are two overhead garage doors located in the basement level of this side; one near the east corner and the other near the west corner. Just above the western most door appears to be a window opening with trim. Centered on the south eave-side of the barn appears to be another window opening with trim. There appear to be no other openings on this side.

The grade inclines towards the north along the east gable-end of the barn. A small shed-roof addition is attached to this side, extending towards the east. This addition encompasses 1/3-of the east gable-end of the barn. A decorative sawtooth girt line siding divide separates the gable-attic from the lower half of this side. Found in the gable-attic of the east gable-end of the barn is an arched, four-pane window with trim. A returning cornice is found in the gable-end. There appear to be no other openings on this side.

The shed-roof addition is attached to the east gable-end of the barn, encompassing the entire west side of the addition. There appears to be a side-hinged, paneled, pass-through door with trim on the north side of the addition. On the east side, there appears to be a side-hinged, paneled, pass-through door with trim and a two-pane window with trim near the south corner. There appear to be no openings on the south side of the addition.

The barn and addition are clad in vertical flush-board siding painted red with white trim. The roofs are both clad in asphalt shingles and have overhanging eaves. A cupola is centered atop the ridge-line of the barn. It has a hip roof with small gable-dormers on each side. Louvered vents are on all four sides of the cupola, and protruding from the peak of the roof is a finial.

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 or side-hill 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.

Until the 1830s, the horses used for riding and driving carriages were often kept in the main barn along with the other farm animals. By the 1850s, some New England farmers built separate horse stables and carriage houses. Early carriage houses were built just to shelter a carriage and perhaps a sleigh, but no horses. The pre-cursor to the twentieth-century garage, these outbuildings are distinguished by their large hinged doors, few windows, and proximity to the dooryard. The combined horse stable and carriage house continued to be a common farm building through the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, until automobiles became common. Elaborate carriage houses were also associated with gentlemen farms and country estates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Another form of carriage barn, the urban livery stable, served the needs of tradespeople.

Field Notes

Listed on the State Register of Historic Places 8/07/2013. Difficult to see barn through trees. Tin roof on cupola. Has sawtooth detail seen on other Cheshire barns. Housed horses that hauled silver oar to Meriden.

Use (Historic)

agriculture

Use (Present)

garage

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

This barn sits to the west of the house with which it is associated. The main façade of the house faces north and the ridge-line is perpendicular to West Main Street. A greenhouse also appears to be located on this property, just to the south of the barn and house. The property is just to the southwest of the intersection of West Main Street and Lynwood Drive Extension. To the north of the property are a few residential areas and woodland. To the south are woodland and a few residential areas. To the east are a few open tracts of land, woodland, and a few residential areas. To the west are JD’s Golf Driving Range, a few dense residential areas, woodland, Mixville Pond and Mixville Park. Surrounding the property are a few residential areas and woodland.

Building Typology

Materials

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

09/09/2011

Compiled By

K. Young & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Additional field notes and photographs by Elizabeth P. Fox and Jeanne Chesanow - 5/7/2011.

Aerial Mapping: Cheshire Maps
http://www.bing.com/maps - accessed 9/9/2011.

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.

Historic Barns of Connecticut

Barn Record Cheshire