Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

• State Historic Resource Inventory

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 2 1/2 story side or eave-entry barn. The main facade faces south and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to Abbott Road, which runs approximately north-south. The main entry is an exterior sliding door off center towards the east on the south eave-facade of the barn. The track extends to the east. To the west of the main entry is a X-braced pass-through exterior sliding door. Above the main entry is a pair of side-hinged hay doors. The rest of the facade is blank. The east gable-facade of the barn blank except for a window opening off center to the north in the gable attic. The north eave-facade of the barn is blank. The west gable-facade of the barn has four windows; two in the main level and two in the second level. The barn has unpainted corner boards and vertical flush-board siding except for the gable attic of the east gable facade and the entire west gable facade, which has asphalt siding. The roof has a slight projecting overhang and 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.

Historical background:

Joseph Cohen purchased the house in 1915 in the early wave of Jewish immigrants to take up farming in Connecticut. He continued to occupy the premises for the rest of his life, and the property [passed down to] his daughter-in-law. The continuous family ownership is somewhat unusual. buying and selling and moving on were more common patterns in Jewish rural history. The Cohen property stands out because of the stability in its ownership.

Field Notes

Jewish Farms and Resorts - documentation by Cunningham and Ransom. cluster of barns

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
• Open Land
• Residential
• Rural
• Scattered Buildings

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is across Abbott Road and to the northwest of the house it is associated with. This is a working farm on 19.84 acres. The ridge-line of the house and the barn are parallel. South of the barn is a tobacco shed and a shed. Across the road to the east is a chicken coop, a gable-roofed barn and a pole barn. The gable-roofed barn, pole barn and brick fire pit are photographs 3-5. The house is at the northeast corner of the intersection of Abbott Road and Frog Hollow Road. The area is scattered residential, active agriculture and open space.

PLT1 Poultry House- 1 Story 2400 S.F.
BRN8 Pole Barn 3072 S.F.
BRN8 Pole Barn 2208 S.F.
SHD1 Shed 3200 S.F.
SHD1 Shed 1600 S.F.
BRN7 Tobacco Barn 4096 S.F.
BRN7 Tobacco Barn 5120 S.F.

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Asphalt Siding
• Concrete
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

Approximate Dimensions

1600 s.f.

Date Compiled

08/13/2010

Compiled By

Todd Levine, reviewed by the Connecticut Trust

Sources

Photography and field notes by Carol Roffey.

Map of Ellington, CT, retrieved on August 6, 2010 from website www.zillow.com.

Cunningham, Janice, and Ransom, David; Back to the Land: Jewish Farms and Resorts in Connecticut 1890-1945, State of Connecticut Historical Commission and Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, 1998, 186 pages, pp.119-121.

O’Gorman, James F., Connecticut Valley Vernacular: the Vanishing Landscape and Architecture of the New England Tobacco Fields, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, 144 pages.

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, 213 pages.

Vision Appraisal Online Database. www.visionappraisal.com/Ellingtonct.