Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½-story eave-entry barn with a gable-roofed annex of the east corner forming an L-shaped structure. The main façade faces northwest and the ridgeline is parallel to North Main Street, which at this point runs approximately southwest to northeast. The main entry is a pair of sliding doors off-centered to the north. The doors have vertical bracing in the lower half and X-bracing in the upper. To the west corner of the northwest eave-façade of the barn is a second bay with a pair of identical sliding doors to that of the main entry.  The northeast gable-end of the barn appears to be blank. The southeast eave-side of the barn has a gable-roofed annex projecting east from the east corner. There is a small three-pane window to the south corner of the southeast eave-side of the barn. The southwest gable-end of the barn has two evenly spaced six-pane windows. There is a six-pane window near the apex of the southwest gable-end of the barn. Set back to the south corner of the southwest gable-end of the barn is the eave-side of gable-roof annex with what appears to be a hinged door off-center to the west. Near the middle of the gable of the southwest gable-end of the barn is a small rectangular frame and board, possibly the mounting for a bird-house. The barn in covered in vertical flush-board painted red with white trim, cornice boards and corner boards. The foundation is field-stone. The roof is covered in 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.

Field Notes

Formerly a dairy barn

Use (Historic)

• dairy

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Other

Environment features

• Open Land
• Residential
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is to the east of the c. 1850 house with which it is associated. The ridgeline of the house is parallel to that of the barn. The total size of the site is 2.4 acres. The area surrounding the site is light residential, open land and woodland.

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Fieldstone
• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Post & Beam

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

1430 sq. ft.

Date Compiled

02/15/2011

Compiled By

TR Revella & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Lesley Meyer date 08/25/2010.

Town of Kent Assessor’s Record:
http://data.visionappraisal.com/KentCT/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=954

Parcel ID: 00141000

Aerial Mapping:
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 2/15/2010.

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.