Part 2 of 2 (157 Melrose Road, East Windsor (Central Valley))

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

The property is towards the north of Melrose Road and includes three barns: Barn-I in the south-east corner and Barns-II & III towards the north-west of Barn-I. Barn-II & III are arranged with their eave-sides facing each other with Barn-II towards the south and Barn-III towards the north. The ridge lines of the three barns run east-west parallel to each other and Melrose Road.

Barn-II: This is a 1 ½ - story gable-entry barn with its south eave-side facing Melrose Road. The main façade of the barn is the east gable-façade with the main entrance at the center through a pair of exterior-hung sliding wagon doors. The northern door leaf of the main entrance is relatively wider and has a square window insert towards the south. A sign board displaying the name of the barn as ‘Longview stable’ can be seen centered above the main entrance. The barn has wooden gates guarding the main wagon door entrance. The barn has evidences of additional ventilation through the siding on the main east gable-side. The gable attic above is separated from the rest of the main east gable-façade of the barn by a distinct girt siding divide line. The south eave-side of the barn has ten stable windows with two windows closed placed at the center and the remaining eight windows equally spaced towards either edge, four on each side.

The wooden frame of the barn has board-and-batten siding on the main east gable-façade and vertical siding on the south eave-side. The barn has asphalt shingle roofing.

Barn-III: This is a 1 ½ - story gale-entry barn with its south eave-side facing Melrose Road. The main façade of the barn is the east gable-façade with two main entrances through two pairs of hinged wagon doors with blacksmith hardware. The gable attic above is separated from the rest of the façade by a distinct dropped girt siding divide line. The south eave-side of the barn appears to have additional ventilation through the vertical siding where every second board is hinged at the top and tilted out at the bottom by means of a horizontal cleat, that lifts many boards at once, and metal prop hooks to hold the boards in place.

The wooden frame of the barn has vertical siding and asphalt shingle roofing.

Historical significance:

The gable-entry barns, Barn-II and Barn-III, have evidences of additional ventilation through their siding which suggests their original usage as tobacco sheds.

The New England barn or gable front barn was the successor to the English barn and relies on a gable entry rather than an entry under the eaves. The gable front offers many practical advantages. Roofs drain off the side, rather than flooding the dooryard. With the main drive floor running parallel to the ridge, the size of the barn could be increased to accommodate larger herds by adding additional bays to the rear gable end. Although it was seen by many as an improvement over the earlier side-entry English Barn, the New England barn did not replace its predecessor but rather coexisted with it, as both types continued to be built.

The tobacco barn, or shed as it is called in the Connecticut River Valley, is one of the most distinctive of the single-crop barns. They tend to be long, low windowless buildings with pitched roofs. They are characterized by vented sides to regulate air flow and allow harvested tobacco to cure at the appropriate rate. Derived initially from the design of the English barn, the shed is composed of a fixed skeleton consisting of two- or three-aisle bents repeated at intervals of 15 feet to the desired length. The wood-framed bents sit on piers of stone or concrete and the bents are connected by girts and diagonal braces. Typically there are two doors at each end, making the shed a “drive-through,” although some sheds are accessed through doors on the sides. The interior structural framework serves a second purpose in addition to supporting the walls and roof of the building; it provides a framework for the rails used to hang the tobacco as it cures.

This is accomplished with one of four different systems (more than one method may be utilized in a single shed):

a) Vertical slats - siding in which every second board is hinged at the top and tilted out at the bottom by means of a horizontal cleat, that lifts several boards at once, and metal prop hooks to hold the boards in place;

b) Side slats - Vertical siding in which alternate boards are hinged along the sides to open like tall narrow doors, each held in place by its own hook;

c) Less commonly, horizontal siding in which alternate boards are hinged along the top edge and open like long narrow awnings; this system may be employed along the lower edge of the wall in conjunction with vertical or side slats;

d) A series of large doors along one of the long sides of the building with the other sides of the building vented by one or more of the other methods.

e) The tobacco sheds can have additional ventilation through side-pivot awning vents on the gable-ends, which co-exist with one or more of the above four systems of ventilation.

Field Notes

Also see Part - 1/2, Barn-I: http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/4426

Use (Historic)

tobacco

Use (Present)

equestrian

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

Barn
Shed

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

The property is situated towards the west of 169 Melrose Road, Map Number - 10 43 008, and the north of Melrose Road bordering the town line of East Windsor and Enfield. It is located in a predominantly residential area of rural character. Residential plots can be seen towards the west, east and the north while parcels of farm land can be seen towards the north-west and the south, across Melrose Road. The rectilinear property has a relatively narrow frontage to Melrose Road with dense woodland demarcating its eastern edge.

The property includes three barns: Barn-I in the south-eastern corner nearer to Melrose Road and Barns-II & III towards the north-west of Barn-I. The ridge lines of the three barns run east-west parallel to each other and Melrose Road. Barn-II & III are arranged with their eave-sides facing each other with Barn-II towards the south and Barn-III towards the north, separated by a fenced paddock. The circa 1950 main residence of plot number 157 Melrose Road can be seen towards the south-western corner, abutting to the road. The property has parcels of farm land towards the north and dense woodland towards the east.

Building Typology

Materials

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

11/18/2010

Compiled By

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

Sources

Assessors’ records retrieved on November 18th, 2010 from website http://www.equalitycama.com/

GIS information retrieved on November 18th, 2010 from website http://www.crcog.org/gissearch/

Photograph/Information retrieved on November 18th, 2010 from website http://www.google.com

Information retrieved on November 18th, 2010 from website http://www.zillow.com

O’Gorman, James F., Connecticut Valley Vernacular: the Vanishing Landscape and Architecture of the New England Tobacco Fields, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, 144 pages.

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 East Windsor