Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

• National Register

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½ -story gable-entry barn with shed-roofed addition, forming an L-shaped structure. The main façade faces southwest and the ridge-line is perpendicular to North Society Road which at this point runs approximately northwest to southeast at the northern perimeter of the property. The main entry is a single overhead garage door centered on the southwest gable-end-façade. There is a diamond shaped window in the gable of the southwest gable-end attic. To the west of the southwest gable-end-façade is the shed-roof annex. The northwest eave-side has a shed-roof annex projecting west from the west half of the barn. The north half of the shed-roof annex is setback by about half the width of the entire annex. The north half of the entire northwestern eave-side is set back slightly from the rest of the barn. The northeastern gable-end of the barn is blank. The southeastern eave-side of the barn has three evenly spaced square windows off centered to the south. The barn has horizontal siding painted red with white trim, cornice boards and corner boards. The roof is covered in asphalt shingles and a brick chimney is centered along on the northern half of the ridge-line.

The second barn is a 1 ½-story eave-entry barn. The main façade faces southwest and the ridge-line is parallel to North Society Road which at this point runs approximately northwest to southeast at the northern perimeter of the property. The main entry is a pair of centered sliding doors. To the north of the main entry is a side hinged pass-through door. To the south of the main entry is a large rectangular entryway with the remnants of a side hinged door. The northwest gable-end of the barn appears to be blank. The northeastern eave-side of the barn appears to have windows to the south corner and north corner. The southeastern gable-end of the barn appears to be blank. The barn has horizontal siding painted red with white trim. The roof is covered in asphalt shingles and a brick chimney is off center to the north on the ridge-line.

Historical significance:

The New England barn or gable front barn was the successor to the English barn and relies on a gable entry rather than an entry under the eaves. The gable front offers many practical advantages.  Roofs drain off the side, rather than flooding the dooryard. With the main drive floor running parallel to the ridge, the size of the barn could be increased to accommodate larger herds by adding additional bays to the rear gable end. Although it was seen by many as an improvement over the earlier side-entry English Barn, the New England barn did not replace its predecessor but rather coexisted with it, as both types continued to be built.

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

corner of North Canterbury Rd (Rte 169) and North Society Road. Contributing resource in the Canterbury Center Historic District.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Other
• Shed

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Residential
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The barns are to the north and northwest of the c. 1780 house with which it is associated. The ridge-line of the house is parallel to the ridge-line of the New England barn and perpendicular to the English barn. There is a small gable-roofed shed between the New England barn to northwest and to the English barn to the southeast. To the south of the house is a gable-roof shed. Slightly further south to the house is a second gable-roofed shed. To the southwest corner of the house is a gazebo. To the northwest of the house and barns is a tennis court. The total size of the site is 4.76 acres. The area surrounding the site is the Canterbury Center Historic District, including agricultural, woodland and some light residential.

Building Typology

• English
• New England

Materials

• Brick
• Horizontal Siding

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

New England: 1856 square feet, English: 900 square feet

Date Compiled

02/08/2011

Compiled By

TR Revella & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Todd Ells - 11/13/2006

Town of Canterbury Assessor’s Record:  http://data.visionappraisal.com/CanterburyCT/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=1732

Parcel ID: 00147200

Aerial Mapping: http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 02/08/2010.

Clouette, Bruce, Tinh, Hoang, Canterbury Center Historic District Nomination No. 97001446, National Park Service, 1997.

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.