Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½-story gable entry barn with a hyphen off the north eave-side connecting to the main house. The main façade faces east and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to Conantville Road, which at this point runs approximately north to south curving northwest to Meadowbrook Lane. The main entry appears to be a single side-hinged door off-enter to the north on the main east gable-façade. Set back to the north of the east gable-façade is the hyphen connecting the barn to the 1 ½-story main house further north. The hyphen has a pair of side-hinged doors adjacent to the north corner of the east gable-façade of the barn. Further north along the hyphen is a double-hung window, this appears to be where the internal separation between the barn half of the structure and the residential half is. There is a twenty-pane window centered on the east gable-façade of the barn. There is a four-pane bulls-eye window near the apex of the east gable-façade of the barn. The south eave-side of the barn has five evenly spaced single-pane windows.  The west gable-end has a centered six-over-six double-hung window, adjacent to the north side of the window is a single side-hinged door. To the north of the west gable-end is the continuation of the hyphen. Along the northern half of the hyphen is a double-hung window followed by a door, this appears to be where the internal separation between the barn half of the structure and the residential half is. The barn is covered in clapboard painted red with red corner boards, white cornice boards and white trim. The roof is covered in asphalt shingles.

Historical significance:

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. With the main drive floor running
parallel to the ridge, the size of the barn could be increased to accommodate larger herds by adding
additional bays to the rear gable end. 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, as both types continued to be built.

Connected barns tied all of the functions of a farmstead - home, hearth, workplace and barn - into a
series of linked buildings. This is the “big house, little house, back house, barn” of nursery rhymes.

Field Notes

Not Listed on Mansfield Historical List But I think this an attached barn on an Historical House in one of Mansfield's oldest manufacturing locales

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• residence

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

n/a

Environment features

• Commercial
• Residential
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is connected to the south of the c. 1850 house with which it is associated. To the east of the barn is Conantville Road. To the south of the barn is house of the neighboring site. There are three residential houses directly across the street from the barn. The property is bounded to the east, west and north by the junction of Conantville road and Meadowbrook Lane. Further to the southeast of the site is East Brook Mall. The total size of the site is 1.28 acres. The area surrounding the site is residential, commercial and woodlands.

Building Typology

• Connected

Materials

• Clapboard

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

28 x 50 feet

Date Compiled

02/25/2011

Compiled By

TR Revella & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Edward Sawicki date 04/06/2008.

Town of Mansfield Assessor’s Record
Parcel ID: 38-106-5.5   1.2 acre 28 x 50 ft

Aerial Mapping: http://www.mainstreetmaps.com/CT/Mansfield/

http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 02/25/2011.

Hubka, Thomas C., Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm
Buildings of New England, University Press of New England, Hanover NH 1984, pg. 6

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.