Domizi Dairy Barn - Part 2 of 2 (2814 Long Hill Road, Guilford (Eastern Coastal Slope))

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 2 1/2-story eave-entry barn. The main facade faces south and the gabled ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to Long Hill Road which runs north-south. The main facade has a set of double-height sliding doors mounted on overhead exterior hardware. It appears that this opening was originally a taller opening as there is a patched area on the wall above the doors. A ramp edged with granite stones on the west edge leads to this set of doors. To the west of and a half level down there is an unglazed framed square opening, an unfinished opening (perhaps just missing siding), and another unglazed framed square opening and what appears to be another unframed opening(again possibly just missing siding). The barn is in poor condition at this, the ground level, and is primarily missing siding. Above the second framed square opening is a side-hinged hay door just below the eaves, high on the wall. To the east of the barn is a 1-story gable-roof addition connecting the barn to the house. Immediately adjacent to the barn, this addition has its own shed-roof addition extending out to the south. The south facade of this shed-roof addition has what appear to be a pair of fifteen-over-fifteen double-hung windows. The wall below this window is open and exposed.

To the west of the barn is a 2-story gable-roof addition whose south eave-side facade is in poor condition at the ground level (primarily missing siding). There is an unframed opening just east of the center, a narrower unframed opening whose upper portion is partially sealed just west of the center, a previously side-hinged doorway (door missing) just west of this opening, and finally a previously framed unglazed square opening at the west corner. The wall area below this final opening has deteriorated. There is a side-hinged hay door above the first opening just east of the center.

The west gable-end of the barn has an opening in the north corner, perhaps a door, a double side-hinged hay door centered in the gable attic with a small horizontal six-pane window above. The 2-story gable-roof addition is located at the south corner of the barn and has only a six-pane window centered high in the gable attic. There is a small gable-roof addition just north of this addition which appears to be connected to the barn with a small connector. This small gable-roof addition has no openings on its west gable-end. The west side of the shed-roof addition of the gable-roof connector to the house appears to have a pair of side-hinged doors. There is a small chimney rising above the roof at this area with two propane tanks located outside the wall. The north eave-side of the barn has a pair of double-height doors mounted on overhead exterior hardware just east of center. On the western half of the facade are two original six-pane windows set low in the facade and symmetrically balanced east to west. Between these two windows is a section that is boxed out for the full height of the barn and has a separate shed-roof. This appears to have been a connector to a silo whose granite foundation is still found on the ground just north of this part of the barn. The north eave-side elevation of the 1-story gable-roof addition has no openings, but the small gable-roof addition has a small window on its north eave-side. To the east of the barn is the gable-roof connector to the house which also has a shed addition on the north side. There is a small window on the gable-roof connector just past the shed-roof addition. Just east of this window is a side-hinged “door” high on the wall just under the eaves. East of that is a patched area in the wall which may or may not have been an opening. Closer to the house is a gated opening.

The east gable-side of the barn has one window centered high in the gable attic. There is a window in the east side of each of the shed-roof additions to the gable-roof connector to the house.

The vertical siding on the body of the barn is painted white with the trim and the doors painted grey. The roof is clad in asphalt shingles.

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

This barn is enormous, 65 plus feet, is attached to the house and extends west, ending up with cows stalls and old wooden stanchions--see interior detail. It is structurally in good condition but need vertical siding repair. There was once a silo at he west end of the barn on the north side--see detail of stone base. The house was built in 1805 by Medad Holcomb so the outbuildings could go back that far but certainly by 1850, it was a working farm when John Dudley lived there.

Use (Historic)

dairy

Use (Present)

storage

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

This property is located to the north of the historic town center of Guilford, in a mostly residential area with some agriculture. The barn is located on 5.84 acres that consists of a house, a garage, two barns, and several other structures. The house, built in 1805 is set back approximately 35 feet back from Long Hill Road with its main gable-roofed ridgeline perpendicular to the road. The house is “L”- shaped. From the back of the bottom of the “L” of the house the barn complex extends a total of approximately 130 feet. The width of the main body of the barn is 35 feet. Thirty feet to the south of the barn is another barn. Approximately 20 feet south of the second barn is a garage. Just west of the second barn is a small shed. Just south of the shed is a large garden. Approximately 50 feet north of the first barn is a shed which is sited along the north edge of the property. To the west of all of these buildings is a very large open field that extends almost all the way to County Road. Between the field and County Road is a stream surrounded by trees. The house is clad in wood shingles and the gable roof is clad with wood shingles.

Book 225, Page 249, Parcel No.104018, List No. 1911

Building Typology

Materials

Approximate Dimensions

65 x 35

Date Compiled

03/10/2011

Compiled By

R. Rothbart & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Caroline Chandler, date 03/14/2009.

Town of Guilford Assessor’s Record:
http://www.guilfordgis.com/gallery.htm
Parcel ID: 104018

Aerial Mapping:
Google Earth: 9/10/2010
http://maps.google.com
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 03/09/2010.

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.

Historic Barns of Connecticut

Barn Record Guilford