Barn Record Enfield
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- Overview
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Designations
n/a
Historic Significance
Architectural Description:
This is a 1 ½ story three-bay eave-entry barn with its southern gable-façade facing Moody Road. The ridge-line of the barn runs north-south perpendicular to the road. The main façade of the barn is the three-bay eastern eave-façade with the main entrance in the middle bay through a pair of z-braced double-height hinged doors with the southern leaf no longer in place. The façade had a horizontal transom window above the main door which has now been boarded with ply-wood, partially covering the main entrance. The southern gable-façade of the barn has a pair of six-pane stable windows with the gable attic above separated by a distinct dropped girt siding divide line. The façade has deep soffit with cornice board lining the gable-end and has a boarded window opening just below the apex of the roof. The lower grade level along the façade reveals the masonry foundation below which has an opening towards the east.
The wooden frame of the barn is supported on cement plastered masonry foundation. The barn has vertical siding walls and asphalt shingles roofing.
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
Also See Part – 2/2 http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/30071
- 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 46 acres property, Map 93, is towards the north of Moody Road in a mixed land use area designated as Shaker Pines Fire District. The property is surrounded by active farm land towards the west and the south while Enrico Fermi High School is situated towards the southeast, across Moody Road.
The barn is part of a U-shaped complex towards the southwestern edge of the property abutting to Moody Road. The main barn and the main residence towards the east form the two arms of the U-shaped complex while the base is formed by another 1 ½ story eave-entry gable-roof barn towards the north-east. A 1 ½ - story gable-entry three-aisle twelve-bent tobacco shed, http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/30071, can be seen towards further east of the complex with its ridge-line parallel to Moody Road. Parcels of farm land with active agriculture can be seen towards the east and the west of this building complex while dense woodland can be seen towards the north.- Typology & Materials
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Building Typology
Materials
Structural System
Roof materials
Roof type
Approximate Dimensions
n/a
- Source
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Date Compiled
08/04/2010
Compiled By
T. Levine and M. Patnaik, reviewed by CT Trust
Sources
Photographs and field-notes provided by –
Gretchen Pfeifer-Hall, gretchenph@snet.netAssessors’ records information retrieved on August 4th, 2010 from website http://www.enfield-ct.gov/
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
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