Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

• State Register

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2-story eave-entry bank barn. The main facade faces south and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to this portion of Maple Avenue, which runs north-south. The main entry is a pair of exterior sliding doors, off-center to the east, in the south eave-facade of the barn. Above the main entry is a framed sliding hay door, with the frame tracks extending to the west. West of the main entry is a wide exterior sliding door with the tracks extending to the west. To the west of the wide sliding door and beneath the extended tracks, is a fixed six-pane window; when the wide door is open, the window is hidden behind the door. The wide door leads to a section of the barn that has three horse stalls. The main entry leads to an open area, now used as a garage. The grade at the east gable-side of the barn declines sharply, revealing a basement level. A retaining wall of un-mortared field-stone extends to the south at the southwest corner of the barn. At the basement level of the east gable-side of the barn is a double-width exterior sliding door that extends to the north. The door is made up of vertical siding and the rest of the basement level is un-mortared field-stone. A corner stone is evident at the northeast corner of the barn. The main level of the east gable-side of the barn is blank except for a two-over-two double-hung window with trim centered in the gable attic. The north eave-side of the barn has three equally spaced two-over-two double-hung windows in the main level. Just beneath each window in the basement level is a fixed six-pane basement window. The grade at the north eave-side of the barn is rocky and inclines gradually to the northwest corner. The west gable-side of the barn barn has four equally spaced four-pane windows with trim no the main level. Centered in the gable attic is a two-over-two double-hung window. Centered atop the ridge-line of the roof of the barn is a cupola with a six-over-six double-hung window in each side, capped with a hipped roof. The roof is covered in asphalt shingles and has a projecting overhang with exposed rafter tails. The barn is clad in unpainted tongue-and-grove sheathing. The foundation is un-mortared field-stone.

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 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.

Field Notes

There are five outbuildings (plus the house) on this site; the summer kitchen, a small English bank barn, a small chicken coop, the L-shaped wagon barn and the main English bank barn. 2011 Barns grant pre-applicant.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• workspace

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Original Site

Related features

• Barn
• Carriage House
• Cupola
• Garage
• Other
• Shed
• Shop
• Stone Walls

Environment features

• Residential
• Rural
• Scattered Buildings
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

This English bank barn is next to and to the north of the house it is associated with, separated by a grave driveway. The ridge-line of the house is perpendicular to the ridge-line of the barn. The site is approximately two acres with a cluster of 5 outbuildings to the west and north of the house, demarcated by stone walls. The outbuildings include a summer kitchen to the west of the house, an English bank barn to the west of the summer kitchen, an L-shaped wagon barn which is to the southwest of the barn described here and a small chicken coop just west of the wagon barn. To the west of the complex is dense woodland that was once open fields.  The area surrounding the site is residential, commercial and woodland.

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Fieldstone
• Other
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Post & Beam
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle
• Rolled

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

10/21/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the CT Trust

Sources

Photographs and field notes by Todd Levine.

Map of Shelton, CT, retrieved on October 21, 2010 from website www.zillow.com.

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.