Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a fine 19th-century barn, likely dating to a period when this farmstead was owned by the Welton family (c. 1830-86). It has a beautiful hewn frame and free-span beam. The barns stands on the east side of Welton Road, to the north of the c. 1830 house on this property. A stream runs to the north. Features include: 26 x 24; peak-roofed barn with gable ends oriented to the north and south; two pair of hinged doors with canted lintels located in north gable end; single door at south corner of east façade; cast-iron strap hinges; 6-pane window located to north; hewn post-and-beam frame (square rule); no ridge pole; free span beam; inside loft on south side; concrete floor; vertical tongue-and-groove barn board.

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 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. 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. In this case the two styles are combined; both a gable entry and an eave entry are used.

Field Notes

Information from a survey of Roxbury by Rachel Carley.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

n/a

Environment features

• Open Land
• Residential
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

n/a

Building Typology

• English
• English/New England Hybrid

Materials

• Concrete
• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

• Post & Beam

Roof materials

---

Roof type

• Gable

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Approximate Dimensions

26 x 24

Date Compiled

06/30/2011

Compiled By

Rachel D. Carley - CH

Sources

Carley, Rachel D., Barn Stories from Roxbury Connecticut, Roxbury Historic District Commission/Town of Roxbury/CT Commission on Culture & Tourism, 2010.

Cunningham, Jan, A Historic and Architectural Resource Survey of the Town of Roxbury, 1996-97.

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.