Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

• State Historic Resource Inventory

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1-½ story eave-entry barn with a gable roof and a shed roof addition. The main façade faces northwest, and the ridgeline runs southwest-northeast, roughly parallel to Good Hill Road which lies to the north. Principal entry is provided by a pair of sliding doors mounted on an external sliding track.  The doors are constructed of vertical wood boards with diagonal bracing.  Along the southeast eave-side is a shed-roof addition featuring an open bay supported by wood posts that extends the full width of the side.  Both gable-ends are unadorned. The exterior walls are covered with vertical board siding.  A dropped-girt line siding divide is visible on both gable-ends.  The roof is covered with asphalt shingles.

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

Some photos are labeled incorrectly as 87 Good Hill Road.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

No

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

n/a

Environment features

• Residential
• Rural
• Scattered Buildings
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

This property is located to the west of Woodbury in a suburban residential area.  The barn is located on a 2.23 -acre parcel that also contains a c. 1940 residential structure, recently expanded from a 1 1/2-story cape style (shown in Bing.com aerial view) to a larger structure (shown in Google Maps aerial view).  The property is bordered to the north by Old Grassy Hill Road and Good Hill Road, and to the east by Meadowbrook Lane.  The house lies to the west of the barn. It is a 2 1/2-story, eave-entry, 4-bay structure with a gable-ell plan. Its ridgeline runs southwest to northeast, parallel to the road.  The main façade faces north.  The exterior walls are covered with vinyl siding and the roof is covered with asphalt shingles.  The foundation appears to be concrete blocks.  To the west of the barn there is a pond surrounded by woods. Adjacent to the east is a recently-developed cul-de-sac road and residential subdivision of single-family homes.

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable
• Shed

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

02/25/2011

Compiled By

E. Reisman & T. Levine; reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Melissa Antonelli.

Town of Woodbury Assessor’s Record: http://www.equalitycama.com/tvweb/Details.aspx?city=Woodbury&uid=324000 (Parcel ID 036-012A:  2.23 acres: c. 1940 house, 4,a21 sq. ft.)
Town of Woodbury CT Geographic & Property Information Application http://www.cogcnvgis.com/woodbury/AGS_MAP/
Aerial Mapping:
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 02/26/2011.
http://www.google.com/maps accessed 02/26/2011

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.