Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2 story side or eave-entry, six-bay, bank barn with a shed-roofed addition. The main facade faces roughly south with its ridge-line perpendicular to this portion of Middletown Road (Route 66), which runs approximately southwest-northeast. The main entries are a series of double-track, exterior sliding doors in the the five bays west of the easternmost bay, which has a two pass-through doors. Just beneath the eave of the roof on the south eave-facade are a series of thirteen six-pane windows. The grade rises sharply at the east gable-facade, resulting in the bank of the barn. The east gable-facade has an exterior sliding hay door, about four feet above grade with a hood, just off center to the north. Towards the north corner is an eight-pane window. The west gable-facade is encompassed by a shed-roofed addition, with its south side flush with the main facade. Facing south in the addition side is a pair of double height swinging hinged doors. The roof has a projecting overhang and the eaves have exposed rafter tails. The roof is clad in asphalt shingles. The barn has vertical flush-board painted red with white trim. The foundation is concrete block masonry.

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.

The 19th century saw the introduction of a basement under the barn to allow for the easy collection and storage of a winter’s worth of manure from the animals sheltered within the building. The bank barn is characterized by the location of its main floor above grade, either through building into a hillside or by raising the building on a foundation. This innovation, aided by the introduction of windows for light and ventilation, would eventually be joined by the introduction of space to shelter more animals under the main floor of the barn.

Field Notes

n/a

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• agriculture

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Carriage House
• Garage
• Other

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Open Land
• Residential
• Rural
• Scattered Buildings

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is one of a number of outbuildings in this active agricultural complex. The house associated with it is east of the barn, with its ridge-line parallel to the barns ridge-line. In between the house and the barn is a gable-roofed shed with its ridge-line perpendicular to the barn. To the south is an above-ground pool. Further south is a gable-entry shed, an eave-entry barn and the main barn of the complex. To the west and south of the complex are tracts of open space. To the north is a large tract of open space. The total size of the site is 3.70 acres. The area is light residential, active agriculture and open space.

M/P = 036//004

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable
• Shed

Approximate Dimensions

1160 S.F. 1200 S.F. 1728 S.F.

Date Compiled

07/30/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust

Sources

Photographs by Todd Levine.

Map of the Columbia, CT, retrieved on July 29, 2010 from website 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.

Town of Columbia assessors office, 323 Route 87, Columbia, CT 06237.