Lauren T. Campbell House and Barn (45 Berlin Avenue, Southington (Central Valley))

Designations

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a three-bay 2 ½-story gable-roofed structure with its ridge-line oriented east-west and the main entrance in the south eave-side which faces the front of the lot and Berlin Avenue. In the left bay of the south eave-side there is one six-over-six double-hung window and a pass-through door at grade level, and two six-over-six double-hung windows at the second floor level. The center bay has a pair of hinged doors swinging out, with eight glazed panes above four vertical panels. A similar pair of doors is in the right (east) bay. Above the center bay doors there is a single hinged hay door with wrought iron strap hinges.

The west gable-end has two six-over-six double-hung windows at the ground floor level and one six-pane arch-topped window in the attic. The north eave-side has one pass-through door near the center of the ground floor. The east gable-end appears to have no openings.

The mortared fieldstone foundation is visible at the west end where the grade slopes away from the building. Siding is vertical flush-board painted light yellow with white trim. The roof has overhangs with sloped soffits, and white-painted trim, with asphalt shingle roofing.

Historical significance:

Given the age of this barn, it is likely that it pre-dates the use of specialized carriage barns, and may have begun as a typical English barn, with conversion to carriage barn use in the mid-19th century.

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.

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.

Historical background:

Originally part of the town of Farmington, Southington’s first settlement occurred in 1598, when Samuel Woodruff of Farmington built a home (no longer standing) near the modern intersection of Pleasant and Woodruff Streets. The earliest homes are documented in the “Colonial Houses of Southington Thematic Resource.”

In 1779 Southington incorporated. The town continued to grow, thanks to increased travel and prosperity along the New Haven Path, although population remained moderate. Farming was the basis of the Southington economy throughout the 19th century, leaving its mark in the remaining barns scattered throughout the town. As the soil became exhausted, farming diminished, with the exception of orchards in the hills in the east side of the town and industry began to increase.

Waterpower provided by the Quinnipiac River, which flows 1/2 mile west of the heart of Southington Center, gave the town the means to process its agricultural goods. Gristmills and sawmills provided milling needs for the town. By the end of the 18th century, the mills were producing other products, such as buttons, combs, paper, and a variety of metal objects. Many of the homes of this period still stand in the Southington Center Historic District.

The industrial transformation of Southington brought an increase of 150% in the population between 1850 and 1880. The prosperity brought on by new enterprises is reflected in Southington Center’s wealth of Italianate and Queen Anne-style houses, many of which were built by the founders and officers of the manufacturing companies. Carriage barns associated with a number of these remain extant, often converted to use as garages.
The coming of the 20th century did not dampen Southington’s prosperity. The industrial demands of the two World Wars increased the population and the prosperity. Empty lots around Southington Center filled with new homes, and new stores and shops gave the Center a more urban feel and appearance. Many of the old homes and barns are closely hemmed in by 20th-century development as the large acreages were sold off for residential building.

A date of 1700 is given for this barn, and 1877 for the house.

Field Notes

A contributing resource in the Southington Center Historic District. A date of 1700 is given for this barn, citing Southington Land Records (Ransom). The barn thus predates the house by 150 years. For an outstanding example of a towered Italian villa, the district is fortunate to have a house built by Southington's only known 19th-century architect, Lauren T. Campbell. Campbell designed and built two neighboring houses on Berlin Avenue, numbers 45 and 63-65. He is listed in the Southington directories as a joiner in 1882 and as an architect from 1889, and appears to have been a skilled architect who was knowledgeable about the architectural trends of his day. He built 45 Berlin Avenue for himself in 1877. The building is an imaginative and whimsical Italian villa with Queen Anne characteristics: it features a tower with mansard roof, two-story bay windows, and bracketed roof of the Italianate style, combined with the irregular massing and lace-like gable ornamentation of the Queen Anne style. … As a group, the buildings in the district illustrate the functions a town center fills for the community. The Southington Center Historic District continues to demonstrate the relationships, both functional and visual, between a town center's buildings over time - churches, town hall, post office, theater, commercial buildings, and homes. ( Ransom, Section 8, p. 4).

Use (Historic)

carriage barn

Use (Present)

unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

This ornate Italian villa style house with its English barn/carriage house at the rear is located on a .5-acre lot on the north side of Berlin Avenue just east of its intersection with Main Street at the southern tip of the town Green. To the east Berlin Avenue is lined on both sides by residential development of the 19th century. To the west modern parking lots have replaced historic context, leaving a gap between this area and the remainder of the historic district along the Green and North Main Street.

Building Typology

Materials

Structural System

Roof materials

Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

Gable

Approximate Dimensions

23 feet x 40 feet

Date Compiled

11/22/2010

Compiled By

Charlotte Hitchcock, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Charlotte Hitchcock date 10/21/2010.

Town of Southington Assessor’s Record & GIS Viewer http://www.southingtongis.com/ags_map
Parcel ID: 100142 .5 acre 2-family 23 x 40 ft

House 1877, barn 1700 Southington Land Records (Ransom).
Aerial Mapping:
http://maps.google.com
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 11/17/2010.

Andrews, Gregory, Sherrow, Doris, Colonial Houses of Southington Thematic Resource National Register Nomination, National Park Service, 1987.

Ransom, David, Johnson, Lisa Fern, Southington Center National Register District Nomination No. 88002961, National Park Service, 1988.

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 Southington