Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½-story, eave-entry, bank barn whose main façade faces north.  The ridge-line is parallel to Clarkhurst Road, which at this point runs east to west.

The main entry is centered on the north eave-façade of the barn and is an exterior hung sliding door.  On either side of the door is a series of three, twelve-pane windows with trim.  There are no other openings on this side.  The grade gradually declines to the west revealing a fieldstone foundation/basement wall.  The fieldstone foundation/basement wall is revealed to show a full basement on the west gable-end of the barn.  Set within the basement wall is a window opening with a stone sill. 

A stone retaining wall extends to the south off the west corner of the south eave-side of the barn.  The south eave-side of the barn has two door openings in the basement level, one on the west corner and one on the east corner.  Centered in the middle of the south eave-side of the barn is a nine-pane fixed window with trim.  Another stone retaining wall extends to the south off the east corner of the south eave-side of the barn.  There appear to be no openings on the east gable-end of the barn.

The barn is clad in unpainted board-and-batten siding with a fieldstone foundation/basement wall.  The roof is covered with asphalt shingles.  A sign centered above the window on the south eave-side of the barn reads “Cold Goat Farm.”

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

Barn located in rural residential area of Haddam Neck. Surrounded by open fields which are used for horses, goats, and chickens. Barn recently restored. This well restored barn is associated with the Samuel Arnold House. The English style bank barn is surrounded by open fields currently used by horses, goats and other active farming. Sitting on a dried laid foundation the bank barn provides two levels that are easily accessible. The basement level is accessible from street elevation. Hay and farm equipment were stored on upper level which is approached from the back and animals are kept on the lower level. Post and beam barn featues board and batten siding and has a date of 1854 carved on the cornerstone. Arnold was a farmer and lived on the property from 1840 to 1896. The barn was hit by lightening in the 1960s and was the first structure fire put out by the newly formed Haddam Neck Volunteer Fire Department. The current owners are restoring the barn and continue to use to house their herd of goats. Bank barn on small working farm. Interesting field stone foundation that appears to have been buttressed with concrete wall.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• animals, not listed

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Original Site

Related features

n/a

Environment features

• Residential
• Rural
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The property with which this barn is associated is 1.3 acres with the house sitting in a bend of Clarkhurst Road.  The barn is to the east of the house and is very close to the road.  A driveway extends to the north off the road and leads to the barn.  A shed is to the northeast of the barn, and a small pond is to the north.  Stone walls boarder the south and east sides of the property. The property is surrounded by dense woodland.  Directly to the north are high powered electrical lines.  George Dudley Seymour State Park is to the west of the property.  To the north and northeast of the property are a few open fields that are used for horses, goats and chickens.

Map/Lot : 07/001

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Board & Batten

Structural System

• Post & Beam

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

26 x 36, 936 square feet.

Date Compiled

05/27/2011

Compiled By

K. Young & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Elizabeth Malloy - 5/2/2008.

Additional photographs by Thom Sawyer - 3/23/2010.

Aerial Mapping: Haddam Maps
http://www.bing.com/maps - accessed 5/27/2011.

Town of Haddam’s Assessor’s Records:
http://data.visionappraisal.com/HaddamCT - accessed 5/27/2011.
Map/Block/Lot: 07/001

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, 213 pages.

http://coldgoatsfarm.com/index.html