Lewis Farms (391 Belleview Avenue, Southington (Central Valley))

Designations

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

There are four principal structures – from west to east:

Barn I is a 26 x 46 foot 1 ½-story gable-roofed shed or barn with its ridge-line oriented east-west. The south eave-side has and overhead garage door at the left (west) end and a door and two windows to the right. The west gable-end has two louvered openings in the attic level. Siding appears to be vertical boards with some plywood. Roofing is corrugated metal panels. Attached on its east gable-end is a gothic-roofed greenhouse 40 feet long by 24 feet wide, now covered in plastic sheeting.

Barn II is a 54 x 92-foot tall one-story brick masonry structure with a low-slope gable roof, the ridge-line oriented east-west. There is a flat-roofed addition 16 x 46 feet, attached to the west side near the northwest corner. It has an overhead door in its south face. The main structure has a large overhead door in its east side and few other openings. Stacks of fruit crates indicate its function as an apple storage barn. Roofing is roll or built-up.

Barn III is an 18 x 38-oot 1 ½-story gable-roofed structure with its ridge-line oriented north-south. Siding appears to be wood, and roofing appears to be asphalt shingles or roll roofing.

Barn IV is a 30 foot x 40-foot 1 ½-story gable-roofed three-bay bank barn structure with its ridge-line oriented north-south. The west eave-side has a pair of sliding barn doors in the center bay. The east eave-side has an exposed basement level. An attached shed-roofed shelter is on the south gable-end. Siding appears to be dark-stained vertical wood, and roofing is asphalt shingles.

Historical significance:

Barn II – Apple Storage Barn

With new developments in storage methods, production was no longer seasonal. The first technological improvement was the use of controlled temperature and humidity to store fruit after the harvest. For example, a warehouse for this purpose was built in 1926 at Rogers Orchards in Southington. A more modern storage plant. utilizing an oxygen reduction atmosphere to retard ripening, was constructed at Rogers Orchards in 1984. Following the harvest, the building is sealed and the oxygen content is reduced to three percent (Cunningham, Section 8, p. 2).

Barn IV

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.

The 19th century saw the introduction of a basement under the barn to allow for the easy collection and storage of a winter’s worth of manure from the animals sheltered within the building. The bank barn is characterized by the location of its main floor above grade, either through building into a hillside or by raising the building on a foundation.

This innovation, aided by the introduction of windows for light and ventilation, would eventually be joined by the introduction of space to shelter more animals under the main floor of the barn.

Historical background:

Originally part of the town of Farmington, Southington’s first settlement occurred in 1598, when Samuel Woodruff of Farmington built a home (no longer standing) near the modern intersection of Pleasant and Woodruff Streets. Other settlers came north from New haven and Wallingford. The earliest homes are documented in the “Colonial Houses of Southington Thematic Resource.” In 1779 Southington incorporated. The town continued to grow, thanks to increased travel and prosperity along the New Haven Path, although population remained moderate.

Farming was the basis of the Southington economy throughout the 19th century, leaving its mark in the remaining barns scattered throughout the town. As the soil became exhausted, farming diminished, with the exception of orchards in the hills in the east side of the town and industry began to increase.

Waterpower provided by the Quinnipiac River, which flows 1/2 mile west of the heart of Southington Center, gave the town the means to process its agricultural goods. Gristmills and sawmills provided milling needs for the town. By the end of the 18th century, the mills were producing other products, such as buttons, combs, paper, and a variety of metal objects. Many of the homes of this period still stand in the Southington Center Historic District.

The industrial transformation of Southington brought an increase of 150% in the population between 1850 and 1880. The prosperity brought on by new enterprises is reflected in Southington Center’s wealth of Italianate and Queen Anne-style houses, many of which were built by the founders and officers of the manufacturing companies. Carriage barns associated with a number of these remain extant, often converted to use as garages.
The coming of the 20th century did not dampen Southington’s prosperity. The industrial demands of the two World Wars increased the population and the prosperity. Empty lots around Southington Center filled with new homes, and new stores and shops gave the Center a more urban feel and appearance. Many of the old homes and barns are closely hemmed in by 20th-century development as the large acreages were sold off for residential building.

Field Notes

Farmstand store east of Belleview Avenue at No. 384, farmhouse, fields, and barns west of road. Colonial house, small barn/garage, to north: two additional wood-framed barns, large brick apple barn (probably) and an additional wood-framed English barn. Surrounded by residential cul-de-sac development. Family farm since 1780. National Register No. 88003096

Use (Historic)

apple

Use (Present)

vegetables

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

These three properties are located in the eastern part of Southington; the intersection of Meriden Avenue and East Street is known as Bishops Corner and was historically surrounded by several ponds and swampy areas including the headwaters of Misery Brook, to the east of this site. The historic 18th-century Dr. Joshua Porter House (No. 391) is sited on a 1/85-acre parcel on the east side of Belleview Avenue which branches off from Meriden Avenue just north of East Street. The house is a two-story Colonial-style building with its gable roof oriented north-south and the front façade facing west toward Meriden Avenue. Across the street is Lewis Farms, a farmstand business operated by the Lewis family who own the house. To the east of the house is a 9.86-acre parcel belonging to the Town of Southington but apparently farmed by the Lewis Farms. On the parcel are several barns and sheds and a group of four 26 x 96 foot plastic hoop house greenhouses. Additional areas are mulched with black plastic. Immediately adjacent on the east is a north-south power line.

Building Typology

Materials

Structural System

Roof materials

Roof type

Flat
Gable

Approximate Dimensions

See description

Date Compiled

12/06/2010

Compiled By

Charlotte Hitchcock, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Field notes and photographs by Charlotte Hitchcock and Helen Higgins date 8/21/2010.

Town of Southington Assessor’s Record & GIS Viewer http://www.southingtongis.com/ags_map
Parcel ID: 066023 Margaret Douglas Lewis, Owner 1.85 acres House 1795 (HRI says 1754)
Parcel ID 066032 9.86 acres – barns and greenhouses – owned by Town of Southington.

Aerial Mapping:
http://maps.google.com
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 12/06/2010.

Andrews, Gregory, Sherrow, Doris, Colonial Houses of Southington Thematic Resource National Register Nomination, National Park Service, 1987.

Ransom, David, Dr. J. Porter House National Register Nomination No. 88003096, National Park Service, 1988 (incorporated in above thematic resource listing).

Elliott, Janice L., Ransom, David F., Marion National Register District Nomination No. 88001423, National Park Service, 1988.

Lewis, Barbara, Andrews, Gregory, Plantsville National Register District Nomination No. 88002673, National Park Service, 1988.

Ransom, David, Johnson, Lisa Fern, Southington Center National Register District Nomination No. 88002961, National Park Service, 1988.

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.

Historic Barns of Connecticut

Barn Record Southington