Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a four-bay 1 1/2-story gable-roofed structure with its ridge-line oriented approximately east-west. A fifth bay addition attached on the west gable-end has a shed roof. The south eave-side has four arched openings with modern overhead garage doors. The easternmost bay has a pass-through door and a twelve-over-twelve double-hung window, both with trim. This bay has a work area at the interior. The west gable-end of the main block has an attic window above the shed roof of the addition. The east gable-end has two six-over-six double-hung windows with trim. A modern wood deck abuts the northeast corner of the structure. The roof is wood shingles, the foundation appears to be fieldstone, partially exposed on the east and north sides.

Historical significance:

Carriage barn:  Until the 1830s, the horses used for riding and driving carriages were often kept in the main barn along with the other farm animals. By the 1850s, some New England farmers built separate horse stables and carriage houses. Early carriage houses were built just to shelter a carriage and perhaps a sleigh, but no horses. The pre-cursor to the twentieth-century garage, these outbuildings are distinguished by their large hinged doors, few windows, and proximity to the dooryard. The combined horse stable and carriage house continued to be a common farm building through the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, until automobiles became common. Elaborate carriage houses were also associated with gentlemen farms and country estates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Wagon shed:  Distinguished by the long shed or gable roof and the row of large openings along the eave side, the typical wagon shed was often built as a separate structure or as a wing connected to the farmhouse or the barn. These open-bay structures protect farm vehicles and equipment from the weather and provide shelter for doing small repairs and maintenance.

Field Notes

This is a four bay wagon shed with an additional work area on the farm owned in the mid-nineteenth century by Madison Woodward, (1817-1874), who was a noted horse trader and singing teacher in Connecticut. Woodward, served one term each in both the Connecticut House and Senate, as well as in a number of local offices in Columbia. Woodward is said to have dealt mainly in horses purchased by the car load in northern New England, and his death in 1874 was the result of injuries he received breaking his thigh while leading his stock over a defective railroad bridge in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Woodward Hill farm is noted as the M. Woodward property on nineteenth century maps, but the land had been in the family since the early eighteenth century. The adjacent farmhouse was built by Israel Woodward and his sons Israel, Jr. and Eleazar around 1780. It is thought to be the second dwelling house on the site.

Use (Historic)

• carriage barn

Use (Present)

• garage

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Carriage House
• Garden

Environment features

• Open Land
• Residential
• Rural

Relationship to surroundings

Located on the north side of the road, north of the Columbia Green Historic District and south of US Route 6. Columbia Lake is nearby to the southeast. Surrounding area consists of predominantly woodlands with low-density residential development along Route 87 and around Columbia Lake. The property is 2.53 acres, a narrow parcel with 194 feet of road frontage, extending north 950 feet across a small stream. The c. 1780 Farmhouse is a 2 1/2-story colonial-style building with the ridge-line of its gable roof oriented east-west parallel to the road. The south eave-side front is a five-bay facade with a slightly recessed central entry door flanked by two double-hung windows on each side. The second floor has five double-hung windows corresponding to the first floor. The carriage barn is north of the house. There were historically other barns, now gone.

Building Typology

• Carriage House

Materials

• Vertical Siding

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Wood Shingle

Roof type

• Gable
• Shed

Approximate Dimensions

918 sq ft; 20' x 50'

Date Compiled

12/10/2013

Compiled By

Charlotte Hitchcock, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Woodward, Walter W., email correspondence 12/10/2013.

Woodward, Walter W., “A Historian Comes Home,” Connecticut Explored, Vol 12/No. 1, West Hartford CT, p. 13.

Aerial view from Bing Maps http://www.bing.com/maps/, accessed 12/10/2013.

Town of Columbia GIS Viewer: http://www.wincog-gis.org/
Parcel ID: 004-020, address listed as 37 Rt 87 West, Columbia CT, 2.53 acres, house built 1780.

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.