Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:

This is a 2 ½ - story three-bay eave-entry bank barn with the bank along its south gable-side and east eave-side. The south gable-side of the barn faces Griffin Road while its ridge line runs north-south, almost perpendicular to the road. The main façade of the barn is the west eave-façade with the main entrance in the middle bay through a pair of double-height hinged wagon doors with blacksmith hardware. The grade level along the façade gradually drops towards the south wrapping the barn on its south gable-side and the east eave-side to form the bank which is separated from the main structure by distinct floor board and has wood shingle siding while the rest of the barn has board-and-batten siding. The bank level on the south gable-side of the barn has a window off-centered towards the east and a pass-through door towards the eastern edge. The east eave-side of the barn is accessed by three entrances at the bank level through three over-head garage doors. The rest of the east eave-side of the barn appears to be blank.

The wooden frame of the barn is supported on cement plastered masonry foundation and has asphalt roofing. The barn has board-and-batten siding on all sides apart from the bank level along the south gable-side and the east eave-side which has wood 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.
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.

Field Notes

The lower portion of the barn appears to have been converted to a garage.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• garage

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Garage

Environment features

• Residential
• Rural

Relationship to surroundings

The 1.18 acres property, Map number - 41 68 016, is situated towards the north of Griffin Road in a pre-dominantly residential area of rural character. Residential plots can be seen towards the east, north and the west of the property while dense woodland can be seen towards the south across Griffin Road. Parcels of farm land with active agriculture can be seen towards the south-east of the property.

The barn is located towards the northern edge of the property with the circa 1820 colonial main residence towards the south, abutting to Griffin Road. A small 1 – story gable-roof garage can be seen immediately towards the north-east of the barn. The property is accessed by a driveway along the eastern edge with a row of trees defining the southern edge along the road. The ridge line of the barn runs north-south, almost perpendicular to Griffin Road, while that of the main residence and the garage runs east-west. 

Building Typology

• English Bank

Materials

• Board & Batten
• Wood Shingle

Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

Barn: 1200 SqFt, Circa 1820 Garage: 600 SqFt, Circa 1930

Date Compiled

11/06/2010

Compiled By

T. Levine and M. Patnaik, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photographs and field-notes provided by – John Harmon

Assessors’ records retrieved on November 6th, 2010 from website http://www.equalitycama.com/ 

GIS information retrieved on November 6th, 2010 from website http://www.crcog.org/gissearch/

Photograph/Information retrieved on November 6th, 2010 from website http://www.google.com

Information retrieved on November 6th, 2010 from website http://www.zillow.com

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.