Historic Significance
Architectural description:
This is a 1 1/2-story, gambrel-roofed, tripartite bank barn with a gable-roofed addition and a conical-roofed addition. The main facade faces east and the ridge-line of the barn is perpendicular to this portion of Butterfield Road, which runs east-west. The main entry is a pair of double-height exterior sliding doors in the middle of three bays. The rest of the facade is blank. A field-stone retaining wall is adjacent to the east of the main facade. The grade at the south gable-end of the barn declines, revealing a basement level. The basement level is mortared field-stone with a set of two nine-pane windows with a lintel in the center. West of the windows is a newly constructed gable-roofed addition extending south. The rest of the south gable-end of the barn is blank except for a vent just beneath the apex of the roof and a girt line siding divide. The west eave-side of the barn has what appears to be a centered exterior sliding door in the basement level. The rest of the side appears blank except for a portion of the gable-roofed addition at the southwest corner. The north gable-end has a conical-roofed addition in the center of the basement level. The rest of the side appears blank except for a girt line siding divide. The grade inclines back to the main level at the northeast corner. The barn appears to have been recently restored. The barn has vertical siding painted red. The roof has a projecting overhang and is covered with asphalt shingles. The foundation is mortared field-stone.
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.
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.
The gambrel roof enclosed a much greater volume than a gable roof did, and its shape could be formed with trusses that did not require cross beams, which would interfere with the movement and storage of hay. Also known as the curb roof, the double slopes of the gambrel offer more volume in the hayloft without increasing the height of the side walls.
Field Notes
New dwelling (1980), gambrel-roofed bank barn located on the slope below house. Sources: Newtown Assessor’s Records.
Editors note: According to the owners, the barn is over 75 years old [TL].