Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½-story eave-entry, tripartite, gambrel-roof bank barn.  The main façade faces east and the ridge-line is parallel with Grove Street, which at this point runs north to south.

The main entry may have once been located in the center of the east eave-façade of the barn.  However, the main entry today is located in the north bay of the east eave-façade of the barn, and consists of an overhead garage door.  Just south of center in the middle bay is a side-hinged pass-through paneled door with grey trim and an inset twelve-pane window in the top.  Centered above the pass-through door is a recessed opening, boarded over and covered by the eave of the gambrel-roof. A red mailbox is located just to the south of the door.  In the south bay of the east eave-façade of the barn is a twenty-four-pane window with grey trim. 

The grade drops to the south along the south gable-end of the barn, revealing a full basement level.  A pair of side-hinged doors is located near the west corner of the south gable-end of the barn.  Near the east corner on the main level is a window opening with unpainted trim that is now boarded over.  Found in the attic is a pedimented window with decorative white trim.

There appears to be an exterior-hung sliding door found on the west eave-side of the barn.  Centered just below the eave appears to be a window opening, with another window opening near the north corner of the west eave-side.  There appear to be no other openings on this side.

On the north gable-end of the barn, there appears to be a door opening near the east corner, and an overhead door on the east corner.  In the attic there appears to be a window opening with white trim.  No other openings appear to be on this side.  The grade inclines towards the east.

The barn is clad in vertical flush-board siding painted red with grey trim on the east side, unpainted trim on the south side and white trim on the north side.  The gambrel-roof is clad in asphalt shingles.  The main façade has numerous advertising signs.

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.

The gambrel roof design was universally accepted for ground-level stable barns as it enclosed a much greater volume than a gable roof did, and its shape could be formed with trusses that did not require cross beams, which would interfere with the movement and storage of hay. Also known as the curb roof, the double slopes of the gambrel offer more volume in the hayloft without increasing the height of the side walls.

Field Notes

grant pre-app 2009 The property is formerly 30-32 Grove Street, now 25 Gabriel Circle in Tax Assessor's Records, Parcel ID: 28.4/78 Grove Street was re-routed to the west side of this parcel in c. 2012, to align with East Street. The former north end of Grove St. is now Gabriel Circle.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• workspace

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Shop

Environment features

• Commercial
• High Density

Relationship to surroundings

This property consists of 0.50 acres of land and sits at point when Grove Street turns into Route 67.  The property is to the north of the intersection of Mill Street and Grove Street.  The house with which this property is associated is to the southeast of the barn and the main façade faces east with the ridge-line running parallel to Grove Street.  To the north of the property is Berkshire Lighting Gallery and New Milford Internal Medicine.  The property is surrounded by commercial and dense residential areas.

Note: The roads may have changed, and Grove Street may be located behind the property now instead of in front of the property.

Map/Block/Lot:  28/4/78

Building Typology

• English Bank
• Gambrel

Materials

• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gambrel

Approximate Dimensions

750 square feet.

Date Compiled

06/10/2011

Compiled By

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

Sources

Field notes and photographs taken from 2009 Barns Grant pre-application by Debra Gabriel - 3/13/2009.

Aerial Mapping: New Milford Maps
http://www.bing.com/maps - accessed 6/10/2011.
http://maps.google.com/maps - accessed 6/10/2011.

Town of New Milford Assessor’s Records:
http://data.visionappraisal.com/NewMilfordCT/search.asp - accessed 6/10/2011.

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.