Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1-½ story, eave-entry balloon-frame barn with a gable roof and rectangular plan.  The main façade faces south, and the ridgeline runs east to west at a 45-degree angle to Bulls Bridge Road, which is located to the south of the barn, and roughly perpendicular to Berkshire Road which is located to the east.  Principal entry is provided by a pair of wood sliding doors mounted on an externally mounted track.  These doors are constructed of vertical boards held together with z-braces, and are located just west of the center of the main façade.  There is a wood-paneled pass-through door with three rectangular panes at the western corner of the main facade.  The eastern most bay is exposed to the elements and is utilized as a wagon shed or farm garage. This bay is divided into two halves by a framing stud.  The west gable-end contains two fixed stable windows with four panes and trim.  The exterior walls are covered with painted vertical board siding.  The low-pitched gable roof is covered with asphalt shingles.

Historical significance:

A framing system composed of lightweight, sawn members joined by nails. Between 1820 and 1870, this light “balloon” method replaced the standard heavy timber system of medieval origin. Balloon framing is common in the construction of the gambrel barns of the 20th century.

Most ground-level stable barns and free-stall dairy barns built since the 1970s have no hayloft.  Instead, the roofs are supported by prefabricated wooden trusses covered with metal roofing. While most single-story truss-roofed barns in New England are constructed with concrete foundations and stud-framed walls, pole barns with open sides are becoming popular, especially for sheltering large herds of dairy cows, heifers, and beef cattle. Many of these large truss-roofed structures are free-stall barns, introduced in the late 1940s.

Historical background:

Kent is a small town in Litchfield County in Northwestern Connecticut that has a longstanding tradition of small-scale agriculture.  At one time, upwards of eighty family-owned farms thrived in this small community with a population of less than 3,000, cultivating staples common to the region such as corn, wheat, dairy, and tobacco. The arrival of mass-transit and large-scale agribusinesses in the mid-twentieth century facilitated the decline of this traditional way of life.  The Newton Farm, located along the north side of Bulls Bridge Road, is one of the few surviving examples of this agricultural tradition.

Field Notes

Pole barn 60 X 28 vertical siding asphalt shingle roof used for workshop and machinery storage.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• workspace

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Garage
• Shed

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Commercial
• Residential
• Rural
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

This property is located to the southwest of Kent, in a rural residential area with a few scattered farms.  The barn is situated on a 19-acre property with multiple residential and agricultural structures.  The property itself is largely agricultural with large expanses of plowed fields separated by groves of trees. 

Directly to the west of the barn is a 28x37 English Barn with a shed addition.  (see 160b Bulls Bridge Rd. #30704)

Further west is the main house, a c. 1900 two-story, 5-bay structure with a rectangular plan and a side-gable roof, its ridgeline running roughly parallel with Bulls Bridge Road.  There is a 1-½ story gable addition to the west of the main structure.  A small, one-story shed addition is to the west of the gable addition, and a one-story utility shed with gable roof is attached to the north of the shed addition, its ridgeline running perpendicular to Bulls Bridge Rd.

To the south of the pole barn lies a series of barns that includes a 54x38 English Bank barn with a vertical extension. (see 160 Bulls Bridge Rd. #30698)

To the southeast of the pole barn is a 1-½ story house with a gable front and wing.  Directly to the north appears to be either a garage or a utility shed with a gable roof, its ridgeline running parallel to Bulls Bridge Rd. 

Directly south of Bulls Bridge Road is a large, eave-entry English Bank barn, its ridgeline running parallel to Bulls Bridge Rd.  Bulls Bridge Golf Club lies to the southeast of Bulls Bridge Road.

Building Typology

• Other Shed

Materials

• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

• Balloon Frame
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

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Roof type

• Gable

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Approximate Dimensions

60 x 28, 1680 sq. ft.

Date Compiled

02/11/2011

Compiled By

E. Reisman & T. Levine; reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Dick Lindsey. 9/9/2010.

Town of Kent’s Assessor’s Record:  http://data.visionappraisal.com/KentCT/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=571
(Parcel ID: 00001700; 19 acres; c. 1900 house, 2,863 sq. ft; c. 1900 house 932 sq. ft.; shed, 576 sq. ft.; carport, 288 sq. ft.; 1-story barn with loft, 1008 sq. ft.; shed, 288 sq. ft.; shed, 192 sq. ft.; pole barn, 1680 sq. ft.; 1-story barn, 1248 sq. ft.; 2-story barn with basement, 3034 sq. ft.; 1-story barn with basement, 576 sq. ft.; 1-story barn with basement, 1400 sq. ft.; shed, 312 sq. ft.; pole barn, 576 sq. ft.; barn, 768 sq. ft.)
Aerial Mapping:
http://maps.google.com accessed on 02/10/2011
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 02/10/2011.

“The History of Agriculture in Kent.”  Kent Historical Society http://www.kenthistoricalsociety.org/the-history-of-agriculture-in-kent.htm accessed on 02/11/2011.

Hubka, Thomas C., Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England, University Press of New England, Hanover NH 1984, 226 pages.

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.