Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

• National Register

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½ - story three-bay eave-entry barn. The ridge line of the barn runs east-west, almost parallel to this portion of Stony Creek Road. The south eave-side of the barn faces Stony Creek Road while the three-bay north eave-side facing Leetes Island Road is the main façade with the main entrance centered in the middle bay through a pair of double-height exterior-hung horse-shoe track sliding wagon doors. The façade appears to have an opening in the first bay from the west which is no longer operational. The east gable-end of the barn appears to have a hinged pass-through door with lintel trim off-centered towards the north. The east gable-end has missing siding towards the edges. The gable attic lined by cornice board is separated from the rest of the gable-end by a distinct girt siding divide line and has a square vent at the center. The three-bay south eave-side of the barn facing Stony Creek Road has an entrance centered in the middle bay through a pair of double-height exterior-hung horse-shoe track sliding wagon doors. The first bay from the east appears to have a hinged pass-through door towards the extreme east while a margin of exposed coursed field-stone masonry foundation can be seen along the grade level. 

The wooden frame of the barn is supported on coursed field-stone masonry foundation. The barn has asphalt shingle roofing and vertical siding walls. 

Historical significance:

The barn and the main residence are both contributing resources to the NR, 85001058 NRIS.

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.

Field Notes

BARN: A small one-and-a-ha1f-story barn stands to the south of the dwelling. Although constructed with post and beam elements,sheathed with vertical flush planks, and standing on the site of an earlier barn, it appears to date from the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. A barnyard, bounded with stone walls,stands to the south and west sides of the barn (Hall, Item 7).

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Stone Walls

Environment features

• Residential
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The 0.97 acres property, Account number – 000031 and Parcel number- J08/000/002/00008, is located towards the west of Leetes Island Road and the north of Stony Creek Road, which runs at an angle from the southeast to the northwest. The property is located in a residential area of sub-urban character with individual plots separated by woodland. Residential plots flank the property is all directions, across the respective roads.

The barn is located along the southern edge of the property with its ridge line running almost east-west, parallel to this portion of Stony Creek Road. The property is accessed by a driveway through its eastern from Leetes Island Road which continues northwest approaching the circa 1765 colonial main residence. The property has stone boundary wall along Stony Creek Road while dense woodland surrounds the barn and the area towards the north and the east.

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Fieldstone
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Load-bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

Barn: 600 SqFt; Patio: 300 SqFt.

Date Compiled

05/18/2011

Compiled By

T. Levine and M. Patnaik, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes provided by: Charlotte Hitchcock, 03/20/2011.

Assessors’ information retrieved on May 18th, 2011 from website http://data.visionappraisal.com/BranfordCT/search.asp.

GIS Map retrieved on May 18th, 2011 from website http://www.branfordgis.com/AGS_MAP/default.htm

Hall, Peter Dobkin, Edward Frisbie Homestead National Register Nomination Number- 85001058, National Park Service, 1985.
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/85001058.pdf
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Photos/85001058.pdf

Photograph/Information retrieved on May 18th, 2011 from website http://www.google.com

Photograph/Information retrieved on May 18th, 2011 from website http://www.bing.com.

Photograph/Information retrieved on May 18th, 2011 from website http://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.