Historic Significance
Architectural description:
This is a 1 ½-story eave-entry gable-roofed barn. The eave-side entry façade faces approximately south and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to this portion of the road. The main entry is an opening that appears to have no doors, and is approached by an above-grade concrete ramp. The flush-board siding surrounding the entry is different from the board-and-batten siding on the remainder of the barn, suggesting that the original entry was larger. The west bay of the façade has a single fixed four-pane window flanked by single pass-through doors, which have been boarded over, although one of the exterior swinging doors remains attached by one hinge. There is a single pass-through door in the east corner of the façade.
The west gable-end has a barn door opening in the north corner with an exterior sliding door. There is also a six-over-six double-hung window high in the south corner, just below the girt line siding divide. The land slopes down towards the north, revealing a concrete foundation in the north eave-side and east gable-end of the barn.
The north eave-side of the barn has a set of three fixed four-pane windows with shared trim in the west corner and a single interior-swinging pass-through door in the north half, which is approached by steps. The northeast gable-end of the barn has three small openings evenly spread across the main level, which appear to be boarded over. Below the girt line siding divide in the east corner there is a double-hung window. There is also a window opening high in the gable attic.
The barn has unpainted vertical board-and-batten siding and faded white trim. The roof is covered with rusting corrugated metal panels.
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
Located along the historic main route from Hartford to Willimantic, Norwich, and Providence, this farm was situated on a terrace above the floodplain of the Hop River which provided fertile farmland.
1700's barn owner stated it is an English three bay was moved in 1920's