Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½-story eave-entry barn with a gable wall-dormer.  The main façade faces approximately south, and the ridge-line is parallel with Milwaukee Avenue which runs approximately east to west.

The main entries are two pairs of side hinged doors, one on the west half and one on the east half of the south eave-façade of the barn.  Each of the doors are board-and-batten on the bottom half with a boarded up top half where openings may have once been.  Above the east leaf of the doors found in the west half of the south eave-façade, there is a side-hinged hay door with strap hinges.  A protruding hood is directly above the hay door, centered in the gable wall-dormer.  Located in the gable peak of the gable wall-dormer is a round window with trim.

On the east gable-end of the barn are two, one-over-one double-hung windows with trim.  Located on the north corner is a side-hinged pass-through door.  Centered just below the girt line siding divide is a side-hinged hay door with a slight protruding hood and a sill.  In the gable-attic of the east gable-end of the barn is a round window with trim.

It appears there was once an exterior hung sliding door located on the north eave-side of the barn however it has since been boarded up.  There are no other openings on this side.  The grade drops slightly along the west gable-end of the barn to reveal a cut stone foundation.  A round window with trim is centered on the west gable-end of the barn.  Located in the gable-attic of the west gable-end is another round window with trim.  There are no other openings on this side.

The barn is clad in vertical flush-board siding painted red.  The gable-roof is clad in asphalt shingles and has overhanging eaves.  The foundation is of cut stone.

Historical significance:

Until the 1830s, the horses used for riding and driving carriages were often kept in the main barn along with the other farm animals. By the 1850s, some New England farmers built separate horse stables and carriage houses. Early carriage houses were built just to shelter a carriage and perhaps a sleigh, but no horses. The pre-cursor to the twentieth-century garage, these outbuildings are distinguished by their large hinged doors, few windows, and proximity to the dooryard.

The combined horse stable and carriage house continued to be a common farm building through the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, until automobiles became common. Elaborate carriage houses were also associated with gentlemen farms and country estates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Another form of carriage barn, the urban livery stable, served the needs of tradespeople.

Field Notes

grant pre-app 2009. The barn was built before the farmhouse - I was told the barn was built in 1840 and the home in 1880.

Use (Historic)

• carriage barn

Use (Present)

• storage

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

1

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn

Environment features

• High Density
• Residential

Relationship to surroundings

The property this barn is on is .92 acres of land, and sits on a busy route (Rte 302).  The driveway to the property extends to the north off the street and leads to the barn.  The barn is directly to the north of the house with which it is associated.  This property is surrounded by dense residential neighborhoods and is slightly to the east of the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Greenwood Avenue.  To the southwest is First Congregational Church and Bethel Historical Society.  To the northeast is Bethel High School, Frank A. Berry School, and Bethel Middle School, and directly northwest is Bethel Sand and Gravel.

Map/Block/Lot: 39 64 26

Building Typology

• Carriage House

Materials

• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

20 x 24

Date Compiled

05/26/2011

Compiled By

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

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Susan Friedman - 3/20/2009.

Town of Bethel Assessor’s Record:
http://bethel.univers-clt.com/view_property_R.php?account_no=R02058&series_card=1
Map/Block/Lot: 39 64 26

Aerial Mapping: Bethel Maps
www.bing.com/maps - accessed 5/26/2011

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.