Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½-story eave-entry former ice house with a gambrel roof.  A modern addition (1987) projects off the front of the structure and is used as a garage.  The ice house has been converted into a residence.  The primary façade of this structure is the north eave-side.  The structure is oriented nearly-parallel to Fieldstone Road, which passes this property at a generally easy to west angle. 

The primary façade of this structure is the north eave-side.  The main entry on this side is centered on the first-story, beneath a prominent gambrel-roof wall dormer.  This entry consists of a single wooden panel door, topped by a blind panel transom, with a paired vertical window above, and an arched lintel.  The eastern half of the façade contains a paired vertical window opening, with arched lintel, centered.  Projecting from the western half of the façade is the late 1980’s addition, which contains a two-car garage and connecting ell, set perpendicular to both the main structure and Fieldstone Road. 

The east gable-end of this structure appears to contain two window openings, aligned vertically.  Both are oriented vertically, with a paired window within, the upper window in the gable-attic taller than that found on the first story.  Each appears to have an arched lintel above.  The south eave-side is divided into four bays along the first-story.  The eastern, east-central, and western bays each contain a centered paired vertical window, with arched lintel.  The west-central bay contains a paired pass-through door, with each leaf containing a vertical window opening.  Three modern shed-roof dormers are nearly-equally spaced within the roof on this eave-side.  Each contains two vertical rectangular window openings, and are faced with horizontal aluminum siding. 

The west gable-end contains two window openings.  Unlike the east gable-end, these windows are not in vertical alignment.  The first-story contains a single paired vertical window, with arched lintel, in the southern half.  The gable-attic contains a taller paired vertical window, identical to the one found in the opposing end gable-attic.  The garage structure projects north from the western half of the north eave-side.  It has a gambrel roof and connects to the main structure by way of a narrow gable-roof ell. 

The exterior of the original structure is faced in mortared fieldstone on all sides.  The roof is covered with black asphalt shingles.  A short square cupola is centered atop the roof ridgeline.  Each of the four sides contain a rectangular louvered vent.  It is topped by a pyramidal roof.  The three shed-roof dormers found on the south eave-side are recent additions and are faced with horizontal aluminum siding.  The north gable-end of the garage addition is faced with mortared fieldstone to match the main structure.  The east and west eave-sides of the addition are faced with modern horizontal siding.

Historical significance:

The use of ice for refrigeration became popular in New England by the middle of the 19th century, especially as farmers shifted to dairy production. The small farm buildings used to store ice through the summer can usually be recognized by their thick insulated walls and few windows. Early examples have low ventilators on the roof. Ice was packed in straw or the walls were built double with an air space of up to 18 inches, as insulation. Icehouses continued to be used until electrical refrigeration was installed during the 1930s and 1940s.

Field Notes

Original part of the house was originally the ice house for the 40-acre Walton Ferguson estate on Strawberry Hill. The main house of the Ferguson estate burned down (circa 1922?). Walton Ferguson (1842-1922) was a Director or Union Carbide, President of Stamford Trust, and CEO of Stamford Gas & Electric. The newer portion of 30 Fieldstone (the garage section) was added in 1987 when the ice house was saved from demolition by Joan Kavanaugh. A developer had purchased the ice house and surrounding land to build a sub-division of single-family homes. Recent articles about the renovated ice house appeared in the New York Times on Dec. 20, 1987 and the Stamford Advocate on March 28, 2010.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• residence

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Cupola
• Garage

Environment features

• High Density
• Residential
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

This structure is oriented parallel to Fieldstone Road, which passes this property at an east to west angle.  Originally an ice house, it was converted in 1987 into a residence, and the front garage addition was added at that time.  It is immediately surrounded by a modern single-family development of subdivision style-homes on all sides, one of many in the area.  These modern developments are intermixed with small areas of woodland.  The structure itself is surrounded by a grassy lawn, with scattered trees in the front and rear yards.  Hedge rows separate this property from the modern houses which immediately adjoin to the east and west.

Building Typology

• Gambrel
• Mill

Materials

• Aluminum Siding
• Fieldstone

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gambrel

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

06/25/2011

Compiled By

N. Nietering & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photographs by Cynthia Reeder.

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, 213 pages.

Map of Stamford, CT, retrieved on June 24, 2011 from website www.bing.com.