Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2-story eave-entry barn clad in vertical siding with the main facade facing north.  The ridge line runs east-west, parallel to Ore Hill Road.  The main entry, located in the central bay of the north facade is a pair of sliding doors mounted on an exterior track flanking a set of glazed double doors with three-paned sidelights and a two-pane transom as this barn has been converted into a studio.  Extending to the east from the east gable-end is a 1 1/2-story gable-roof addition centered in the east facade.  The north eave-side elevation of the addition has a pass-through door to the west and a six-pane window to the east.  On the east gable-end main level of the addition is at least one six-pane window while the gable attic has one four-pane window. The east gable attic of the main structure has one four-pane window.  The south eave-side elevation of the addition appears to have one six-pane window while the south eave-side elevation of the main structure appears to have one large window located in the center of the facade perhaps as part of the conversion to a studio.  In the west gable-end attic are three evenly spaced six-pane windows with one four-pane window above.  The barn sits on a fieldstone base with large flat stones serving as stoops; one outside the double doors on the main north entry and one below the pass-through door at the gabled addition.  The vertical siding is painted red with white trim and the roof is clad in wood shingles.  The barn was converted to a studio after the property was purchased in 1998.  There is a full basement under both the main structure as well as the addition.

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:

From Kent Historical Society: “Ore Hill - the steep road that goes up (southeast) from the foot of Geer Mt. Road. There was the Spaulding Farm off the first steep part, on the right; up a little further, on the left where the Standens live, is an old Chase farmhouse that I don’t remember as a working farm, but the lands were extensive. The Benedict farm was located where Ore Hill Road turns to dirt (and eventually joins Treasure Hill Road). Turn around there, and go back & take a left down Peet Hill Road - (the one-room schoolhouse was smack in the middle of the intersection of Ore Hill Road & Peet Hill Road - torn down in the 50s). I remember the Hoffmans, who were tenant farmers for the old Samuel Peet Farm (the big stone house is still there, on the right) - but I can’t remember who owned it when the Hoffmans worked there. Bill Litwin bought the barn on the left and converted it into a house (now Ann Bass). I think Hoffman’s house (also on the left) was razed. Further down Peet Hill was (is) Bud Chase’s farm - he & wife Caroline were part of Triple A Ranch group who played country music & square dances. Caroline’s family, the Smyrskis, also had a farm at the end of Peet Hill Road right before it joins West Meetinghouse Road (the New Milford end of Camps Flat Road).”

Also according to the Kent Historical Society many farmers in the area were tobacco farmers.  Among those mentioned in the above article listed as tobacco farmers were the Benedict, Chase, and Peet families.

Many of these farms in the area were purchased in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s by Ann Bass the ex-wife of an oil billionaire from Texas who purchased a number of these farms and consolidated them to form “Rock Cobble Farm” which all together equal over 1000 acres.  According to a newspaper article, in an effort to “restore her land to the condition it was in during the 18th century” Ms. Bass “tore down the houses and destroyed all the history” - two different perspectives.  Point being, the barns and other structures on these properties may have been moved or altered.

One of the agricultural endeavors of Ms. Bass and a Ms. Cynthia Creech is the preservation of a rare and endangered breed of cattle, the Randall, which can be raised for both dairy and beef purposes.

Field Notes

30 X 40 with 12 X 20 addition English vertical siding wood shingle roof gable roof post and beam. Now used as a studio.

Use (Historic)

• agriculture

Use (Present)

• workspace

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Garage
• Shed

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Open Land
• Rural
• Scattered Buildings
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

This property is located to the southwest of Kent among rolling hills, in a rural residential area with a few scattered farms.  The barn is located on a 120.81-acre parcel that consists mainly of woodlands and open fields, a house and several agricultural structures.  While the barn/studio is sited quite close to Ore Hill Road, the 2-story main house, originally built in 1840 is Colonial in style and is located approximately 200 feet to the east of the barn and slightly set back from the road.  The ridge of the house’s gabled roof runs parallel to Ore Hill Road and its main facade faces north.  The walls are clad with Clapboard and the roof is clad in wood shingles.  Slightly further to the east is a garage with a gabled roof whose ridgeline runs parallel to the road and is sited slightly closer to the road.  To the east of the garage and beyond a driveway (which leads to a tennis court about 1500 feet from the house) is a large “L”- shaped shed.  The main ridgeline of this shed is parallel to the road with the secondary ridgeline perpendicular to the road.  The access way for this shed also provides access to another barn as well as other auxiliary farm structures.  All of these buildings are set in a mixture of open pasture and stands of deciduous trees.

Map 12, Block 33, Lot 9

Building Typology

• English

Materials

• Fieldstone
• Flush-board
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Post & Beam
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Wood Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

1500 sq. ft., 30 x 40 with 12 x 20 addition.

Date Compiled

02/23/2011

Compiled By

R. Rothbart & T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Dick Lindsey   date 9/21/2010.

Vision Appraisal Online Database. http://data.visionappraisal.com/KentCT

Aerial Mapping:
Google Earth: 3/301991 - 8/30/2010

http://maps.google.com
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 02/23/2010.

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.

Kent Historical Society Article on Agriculture: http://www.kenthistoricalsociety.org/the-history-of-agriculture-in-kent.htm

Kent Historical Society Article on Tobacco Growing: http://www.kenthistoricalsociety.org/tobacco-growing-in-the-housatonic-valley.htm

New York Times Article on Ann Bass, date 5/18/2007: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/nyregion/18bass.html

Kent Good Times Dispatch Article on Randall Cattle: http://www.randallcattleregistry.org/page10G.html, date 12/2/2005