Barn Record Mansfield

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Building Name (Common)
Ratcliff Barn
Building Name (Historic)
n/a
Address
60 Bundy Lane, Mansfield
Typology
Overview

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½-story gable-entry bank barn, with an extended shed-roofed eave-side addition at the west side whose walls are of exposed cut stone. The main façade faces northwest and the ridgeline is parallel to Farrell Road, which runs approximately northwest to southeast along the side of the property, and meets Bundy Lane.

The main entry is a pair of sliding doors centered in the wall but off-center of the peak of the main block. There is a side-hinged door to the right (west) corner of the northwest gable-façade with what appears to be a slightly pitched hood above. Adjacent to north of the west corner door on the northwest gable-faced is a six-pane window; both the door and window are in the shed-roofed addition. There is a four-pane window near the apex of the gable of the main northwest gable-façade. The apex of the gable of the northwest gable-façade is off-center to the north with the shed-roof slope beginning at the center of the façade and descending to the west corner.

The grade of the northeast eave-side of the barn declines sharply, revealing a basement level of fieldstone, and extends to the northwest in the form of a retaining wall supporting the entry grade level. The northeast eave-side of the barn is blank.

The basement level of the southeast gable-side of the barn has a pair of sliding doors off-center to the left (south), with what appears to be a pair of side-hinged doors directly adjacent to the right (east). Above the basement level doors runs a transom of which about half is exposed. The east portion (the main block) of the main level of the southeast gable-end of the barn has two evenly spaced single-pane windows. The grade of the south portion of the southeast gable-end of the barn inclines sharply with the lower half of the south shed portion being of exposed cut stone. To the south corner of the southeast gable-end of the barn is a six-pane window adjacent to the south corner and south side of the window is a side-hinged door. The apex of the gable is off-center to the east with the shed-roof slope beginning at the center and descending to the south corner. The southwest eave-side of the barn appears to have two evenly-spaced windows.

A fieldstone retaining wall at the southwest corner of the structure appears possibly to have been the foundation of an additional structure, now demolished.

The wood-framed portions of the barn are covered in un-painted vertical siding. The western shed addition has cut stone walls at the main level and vertical wood siding at the attic level. The roof is covered in asphalt shingles. The foundation/basement level is fieldstone.


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.

The 19th century also 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 on 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 & Accessibility

Use (Historic)

Use (Present)


Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Environment

Related features

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is to the east and slightly south of the c. 1920 house with which it is associated. The house is of a hipped roof and sits at an angle to that of the barn. The site is at the southwest corner of Bundy Lane and Farrell Road. The site is partially bordered to the north, east and south by stone walls. The total size of the site is 3.0 acres. The area surrounding the site is light residential and woodland.

Typology & Materials

Building Typology

Materials


Structural System

Roof materials


Roof type


Approximate Dimensions

30 x 40 feet

Source

Date Compiled

02/25/2011

Compiled By

TR Revella & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Lizee and Raynor

Town of Mansfield Assessor’s http://www.mainstreetmaps.com/CT/Mansfield/
Parcel ID: 10-41-3

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

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.

PhotosClick on image to view full file