Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:
This is a 2-story, three-bay side- or eave-entry gambrel-roofed barn. The main facade faces northeast with its ridgeline running southeast-northwest, parallel to Kelseytown Road. The main entry is a pair of single-height hinged arched doors in the center bay of the northeast eave-facade. The southeast and northwest bays are blank.

The northwest gable-facade has a pass-through door off center on the first floor with a single-pane window centered below the apex in the attic gable.

The southwest eave-facade appears to only have a centered pass-through door. The grade begins to slope down to the south where it exposes the mortared fieldstone foundation on the southeast bay of the southwest eave-facade.

The southeast gable-facade appears to have a pair of overhead doors evenly spaced on the basement level. The main floor is blank. In the attic gable, of the southeast gable-facade, is a fixed single-pane window centered below the apex.

The barn has horizontal novelty siding that is painted red and trim that is painted white. The two pass-through doors are painted dark red and have muntins that are painted yellow. The barn has a mortared fieldstone foundation and an asphalt shingle roof. Centered on the ridge of the roof is a hip-roof cupola with a pair of arched wooden ventilators on all four sides. The cupola is painted white with asphalt shingles and has a wrought iron weathervane on the peak of the hipped-roof.

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 ground level stable barn with a Gothic roof uses prefabricated curved rafters to maximize the volume in the hayloft with a minimum of internal supports. Aside from the pointed arch of the roof, this design is very similar to that of the dairy barns with gambrel trussed roofs.

Field Notes

We believe our barn foundation to be at least 100 years old and maybe as old as the house on the property. The main part of the house was built in the 1830s. The body of the barn burned in the 1940's and was rebuilt. In 1971, it became part of a children's center and is still used today as a gym for children to play. Besides the "Big Barn", the property also is home to two other barns, "Little Barn" and "Gray Barn." Some of the boulders which form the foundation of the big barn are about 8 feet by 6 feet. The Red Barn Childrens Center is a state-licensed and nationally-accredited early education and care center serving 140 children during the school year and 200 children during the summer program.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• re-use

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Original Site

Related features

• Barn
• Cupola
• Garden
• Other
• Silo

Environment features

• Residential
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is situated northwest of the associated house. It is facing northeast with its ridgeline running northwest-southeast, parallel to Kelseytown road. The barn is surrounded by woodlands and residential development west and east of the barn, and agricultural uses to the south.

Building Typology

• Gambrel

Materials

• Clapboard
• Fieldstone
• Other

Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gambrel

Approximate Dimensions

BRN4--1 STY LFT&BSMT (864 S.F.), SHD1--SHED FRAME (216 S.F.)

Date Compiled

07/13/2010

Compiled By

S. Lessard and T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Assessors Online Database: Account Number: S0555500, MBLU : 49/ 42/ 16/ / /.
http://data.visionappraisal.com/ClintonCT/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=2832 (7/14/2010)

Photographs and field notes by Linda N. Stuhlman l(ns.redbarn@comcast.net)- 2/22/2010

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.