Building Name (Common)

Greenbacker Farm/Saddlebrook Farm

Building Name (Historic)

Brookfield Farm

Address

160-162 Wallingford Road (Rte 68)
Durham

Typology

• English

 

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a multi barn complex towards the north of Wallingford Road with a L-shaped barn complex, Barn-I towards the west and an inverted U-shaped barn complex, Barn-II towards the east. The ridge line of the main barns of Barn-I and Barn-II runs east-west parallel to the road.

Barn I: This is a L-shaped barn complex comprising of a 2 ½ - story three-bay eave-entry main barn with a 1 ½ - story eave-entry gable-roof addition on its south eave-side. The ridge line of the main barn runs east-west parallel to the road while that of the gable-roof addition runs north-south. The south eave-side of the main barn facing Wallingford Road is the main façade with the main entrance at the center through a pair of twenty-one pane hinged doors. The original main entrance to the barn appears to be through an exterior-hung sliding wagon door as evident from the lintel board. The façade has two window openings on either side of the main entrance while the gable-roof addition can be seen towards the west. The east gable-end of the barn has a hinged pass-through door at the center flanked by a window on either side. A hay door opening can be seen above the pass-through door at the second floor level while a hay track projects out just below the apex of the roof. The gable attic of the east gable-end of the barn originally appears to have a hay-door which has been boarded with vertical siding and has a two-pane window insert at the center. The gable-roof of the main barn has a louvered cupola at the center. The six-bay east eave-side of the gable-roof addition on the south eave-side of the main barn appears to have six entrances through six pairs of hinged doors.

The wooden frame of the main barn has exposed cement plastered masonry foundation at the southeast corner. The barn has clapboard siding and recently done metal roofing. The wooden frame of the gable-roof addition has vertical siding walls and metal sheet roofing.

Barn – II: This is an inverted U-shaped barn complex comprising of a 1 ½ - story eave-entry main barn with two intersecting gable-roof additions on its south eave-side, one towards each side. The ridge line of the main barn runs east-west parallel to the road while those of the two intersecting gable-roof additions runs north-south. The south eave-side of the main barn facing Wallingford Road is the main façade with the main entrance towards the west through an eight-pane exterior-hung sliding wagon door with diagonal boards. Two paired nine-pane windows can be seen immediately towards the west of the main entrance while three six-pane stable windows with trim can be seen equally spaced towards the east. The façade has a lower eave-line towards the west protecting the main entrance and the paired nine-pane windows. Two triangular roof skylights can be seen equally spaced on the main south eave-façade. The south gable-end of the interesting gable-roof addition towards the west on the main south eave-façade of the main barn has an eighteen-pane window mounted by a semi-circular arched fanlight. The gable attic has returning eaves with raking cornice detail and a semi-circular arched louvered vent just below the apex of the roof. The north eave-side of the main barn five six-pane square windows equally spaced towards the east and a one-over-one double-hung sash window towards the west. A brick chimney can be seen towards the western edge while a portion of the gable-roof towards the east has recently done metal roofing. The gable roof of the main barn is mounted by an octagonal louvered cupola at the center.

The wooden frame of the barn complex has red painted horizontal clapboard siding and asphalt roofing. The north eave-side of the main barn has light yellow painted horizontal clapboard siding and metal roofing on a portion towards the east.

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 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:

Geographical constraints, as well as advantages, and a particularly heterogeneous settlement population drawn from all over the Connecticut Colony, were some of the factors that shaped the course of Durham’s history, transforming the town from a self-sufficient farming village into a relatively cosmopolitan center of commercial agriculture and small-scale, agrarian-based industry.

Prior to settlement the Town of Durham was known as the Coginchaug, or Great Swamp. Most of the land in the town had been granted to individuals for distinguished service to the colony in military or civic affairs in the seventeenth century. All of these men were absentee owners; none were anxious to occupy what was then one of the least desirable areas for settlement in the colony. Swamp and marshland occupied most of the central part of the area, surrounded by rolling hills overlaying rocky ledges. Less than one third of the mere 15,000 acres was suitable for cultivation.

(Cunningham)

Field Notes

The farm was formerly owned by Frederick Brewster (the New Haven carriage maker - see entry for Edgerton Estate, Cliff Street, New Haven/Hamden) and was called, and is still often referred to as, Brookfield Farm. Signage at the site indicates the name Saddlebrook Farm. There are several modern metal-roofed pole barns in addition to a U-shaped barn (red on the front, yellow on rear) with a cupola on the north side of the road at the northeast part of the farm, and a very dilapidated barn complex on the south side of the road toward the west end of the farm.

There are actually 3 historic barns on this property which occupies land on both sides of Wallingford Road.