Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½ - story three-bay eave-entry barn with its east gable-side facing Main Street. The ridge line of the barn runs east-west, almost perpendicular to the road. The main façade of the barn is the three-bay south eave-façade with two main entrances through two pairs of X-braced hinged wagon doors: one each in the first bay and the second bay from the west. Two boarded windows can be seen on the façade above the two main entrances. The main south eave-façade of the barn has two secondary entrances through two hinged pass-through doors, one each towards either edge of the first bay from the east. The pass-through door towards the eastern edge of the façade has blacksmith hardware with lintel trim. The east gable-side of the barn appears to have a pass-through door towards its southern edge and has two closely placed twelve-pane stable windows centered at the first floor level. The gable attic above has a similar twelve-pane stable window at the center with a wreath hung below it and a louvered vent just below the apex of the roof.

The wooden frame of barn is supported on un-mortared stone masonry footings. The barn has vertical siding and asphalt shingle roofing.

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.

Field Notes

n/a

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn

Environment features

• Commercial
• Residential
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The 0.68 acres property, parcel number - F0096700 and map number 38, is located towards the west of Main Street. The property is situated in a mixed-use area with residential plots towards its north and the west. United Churches of Durham can be seen towards further north while Durham Manufacturing is towards the east across Main Street. Frank Ward Strong School is located towards the south-east of the property, across the street.
The barn is located towards the northern edge of the property, offset from Main Street. The circa 1780 colonial main residence is positioned towards its south-east, nearer to the road. The property is accessed by a drive-way towards the north of the main residence which continues towards the west to form a cul-de-sac towards the south of the barn. A 1 – story gable-roof semi-open metal pole barn is situated towards the west of the main barn. The ridge lines of the barn, the main residence and the pole barn run east-west, almost perpendicular to Main Street. The property is surrounded by dense woodland on all sides.

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Fieldstone
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Load-bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

Barn: 700 SqFt, Circa 1800 Pole barn- metal 4 sides: 26X24 SqFt, Circa 2008

Date Compiled

01/27/2011

Compiled By

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

Sources

Photographs and field-notes provided by – Todd Levine

Assessors’ records retrieved on January 27th, 2011 from website http://durham.univers-clt.com

Map and property records retrieved on January 27th, 2011 from website http://www.townofdurhamct.org

Photograph/Information retrieved on January 27th, 2011 from website http://www.google.com

Information retrieved on January 27th, 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.