Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

Barn I - This is a 1 1/2-story eave-entry L-shaped barn with a cross-gable roof.  The main façade faces south and the ridge-line of the barn’s base is perpendicular to Congress Street, while the wing is parallel with Congress Street, which runs northwest-southeast.  The main entry on the south eave-façade, located in the barn’s main block, appears to be a pair of sliding doors.  To the east side of the sliding doors are two six-over-six double-hung windows with trim.

There are two six-over-six double-hung windows with trim on the first floor of the west gable-end.  There are two pairs of swinging hinged doors, a larger pair above a smaller pair in the gable-attic.  Both are painted gray.  There are also two six-pane fixed windows with trim flanking the doors in the gable-attic.  The gable-roof has a deep overhang.

On the north eave-side of the barn’s main block appear to be four window openings on the first floor, with three of them grouped toward the eastern corner. Two smaller window openings just beneath the eave are also grouped toward the eastern corner.

There are six window openings on the first floor of the east gable-end of the main block.  On the east gable-end in the gable-attic are three window openings.

On the first floor of the south gable-end of the barn’s wing is a central Dutch-door with a twelve-pane fixed window with trim in the upper half.  On either side of the Dutch-door is a six-over-six double-hung window with trim.  Above the Dutch-door is a pair of swinging hinged doors painted red.  In the gable-attic are two six-pane fixed windows with trim.  On the first floor of the west eave-side of the barn’s wing are six six-pane fixed windows with trim. 

The barn is clad with vertical wood boards painted red on the first floor and wood shingle painted gray on the loft level.  White trim separates the first floor from the loft level.  Above the trim the very lower portion of the wall of the loft kicks out slightly.  The windows are painted white.  The roof appears to be clad with asphalt shingle.  A wooden cupola with arched louvers is mounted on the ridge of the barn’s wing toward the south eave-elevation. The slightly raised basement is painted red and appears to be constructed of fieldstone.

Barn II - This appears to be a 1-story barn with a gable roof.  There is a small half-width gable-roof extenstion off of the east gable-end.

Barn III - This is a 1 1/2-story eave-entry barn with a gable-roof.  The main façade faces north and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to Congress Street, which runs northwest-southeast.  The main entry on the north eave-façade is a pair of central swinging hinged doors.  There is a small 1-story gable-front extension with a central single swinging hinged door toward the eastern corner of the barn’s north eave-façade.  The grade declines toward the western corner of the north eave-façade, revealing a portion of the red painted foundation.  The gable-roof has a deep overhang.  There are four window openings on the first floor of the west eave-side of the barn.

On the east gable-end of the barn there are four six-over-six double-hung windows with trim on the first floor.  Above the windows is a pair of swinging hinged doors.  A single six-pane fixed window is located in the gable-attic.

The barn is clad with vertical wood boards painted red. The roof appears to be clad with asphalt shingle.  Like Barn I, the windows of Barn III are painted white.

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.

Field Notes

n/a

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Cupola
• Other
• Shed

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

The property consists of three houses (a c. 1959 Modern house, a c. 1926 Cape house, and a c. 1976 Ranch house), three barns, three sheds, an in ground pool, and a tennis court.  Barns I, II, and III are located to the side of and to the north-northwest of the c. 1959 Modern house.  Barn I is located to the rear and east-northeast of the c. 1926 Cape house, Barn II is located to the rear and east of the Cape, and Barn III is located to the rear and east-southeast of the Cape. The deck roofs of the Modern house are predominantly perpendicular to the ridge-lines of the three barns, except for the stem of Barn I which is parallel with the roofs of the house.  The ridge-line of the Cape house is perpendicular to the ridge-lines of the barns, except for the base of Barn I which is parallel with it. 

A driveway to the west of the c. 1959 Modern house leads from Congress Street to the northeast corner of the house, which is set back from the road.  The c. 1926 Cape is located close to the road and a second driveway leads from the road to the south of the Cape back to what appears to be a separate lot to the east, passing the three barns on its way.  A stone wall appears to run along the south boundary of the property.  The site is mostly landscaped.  The total size of the site is 28.40 acres. Much of the area surrounding the site is composed of residential suburbs, open space, and woodland.

Map 167, Vol. 2.

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Fieldstone
• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding
• Wood Shingle

Structural System

n/a

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

Barn I: 2636 square feet, Barn II: 1170 square feet, Barn III: 364 square feet.

Date Compiled

04/23/2011

Compiled By

K. Jefferson & T. Levine; reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Lynn Friedman 11/09/2006.

Town of Fairfield Assessor’s Record: http://data.visionappraisal.com/FairfieldCT/DEFAULT.asp
Parcel ID: 167/ 2/ / / /

Aerial Mapping: http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 4/23/2011.

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.