Barn Record Hamden

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Building Name (Common)
Rectory Military School Barn
Building Name (Historic)
Rectory Military School Barn
Address
2901 Dixwell Avenue, Hamden
Typology
Overview

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 1/2-story gable-roofed structure with its ridge-line oriented northeast-southwest (for reference, referred to as north-south). The east eave-side is the primary entry facade. There is a pass-through door with a transom at the left (south) corner, a double hung window to the right, and further to the right, three door openings filling the right (north) half of the facade. These have chamfered heads and hinged doors with iron strap hinges. The heads are trimmed with two parallel bands of flat molding. Above the left-most door opening, somewhat to right of center of the facade, is a wall dormer with a hay door and a round trimmed opening filled with a panel bearing the date 1844 near the peak. The south gable-end has three window openings in the ground floor; the center opening has sliding door hardware. A hay door opening is in the attic level. The ground-floor window openings have simple sloped hoods over the heads; all windows are boarded during construction.

The west eave-side has a window near the right (south) corner and another off-center toward the left (north). The north gable-end has two window openings. An attached garage addition has been demolished, revealing the original siding and a hay door opening in the attic level.

Siding is horizontal clapboards with corner board trim at the ground floor level. Above there is an ornamental belt course around all four sides with a Gothic scalloped saw-cut band topped by a projecting wood water table. The attic level has board-and-batten siding.

The roof is slate with an ornamental cross pattern in contrasting light and dark slate colors. The roof has deep overhangs on all sides, exposed rafter tails sawn in an ornamental pattern, and brackets at the gable-ends supporting the rake overhangs. The attic gable peaks have ornamental stickwork trusses which include king-post elements projecting above the ridge-line as finials at both gable-ends and at the peak of the east wall dormer.

Historical significance:

Until the 1830s, the horses used for riding and driving carriages were often kept in the main barn along with the other farm animals. By the 1850s, some New England farmers built separate horse stables and carriage houses. Early carriage houses were built just to shelter a carriage and perhaps a sleigh, but no horses. The pre-cursor to the twentieth-century garage, these outbuildings are distinguished by their large hinged doors, few windows, and proximity to the dooryard.

The combined horse stable and carriage house continued to be a common farm building through the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, until automobiles became common. Elaborate carriage houses were also associated with gentlemen farms and country estates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Another form of carriage barn, the urban livery stable, served the needs of tradespeople.

The Gothic Revival style of this barn is evidenced in details such as the steep roof pitch and slate roofing, stick-work ornamentation, saw-cut belt course above the ground floor, and board-and-batten attic level siding.

Historical background:

Rev. Charles Everest, Rector of Grace Episcopal Church, was head of the Rectory Military School, founded 1843. This school for boys, which operated on and around [2324 Whitney Avenue] until 1879, included a campus consisting of a dorm, playhouse, gashouse, boathouse, windmill, and barn. The Rectory School Cabin, built in 1861, and still located at 2324 Whitney Ave., served as Everest’s residence. The Rectory School Barn originally stood at the rear of 2308 Whitney Avenue and was part of the Rectory School campus. Built in 1869 and attributed to architect Henry Austin, the structure was moved in 2001 to its present location in Meadowbrook Park (Hamden Historic Properties Commission, Self-Guided Tour).

Field Notes

Miller Library field - moved from 2308 Whitney Avenue - new foundation constructed 2010. The Gothic revival Rectory barn, built by Henry Austin in 1863 (or 1869), will be adaptively re-used as a multi-cultural museum for children. Funding for the restoration/rehabilitation of the barn will be provided by the organization that will run the museum, PLACE, as well as the CT Trust, The Town of Hamden and the State of CT.

Use & Accessibility

Use (Historic)

Use (Present)


Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Moved

Environment

Related features

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

This barn has been moved to a location southwest of the Miller Library on Dixwell Avenue, a busy commercial street near the Hamden Town Center. Adjacent to the barn is a parking lot serving community facilities, an area of community gardens, and to the south, Meadowbrook Park. Prior to being moved in 2001, the barn stood to the west (rear) of Centerville Lumber Company, which has a retail building at 2308 Whitney Avenue and a yard extending northward behind a row of commercial buildings. The lumber yard abuts the rear of the property of Grace Episcopal Church, 2931 Dixwell Avenue, with which the Rectory School was historically associated. The land west of Whitney Avenue, south of Dixwell Avenue, and north of the Wilbur Cross Parkway (Rte 15) has been developed since the mid-20th century with a mix of commercial uses and municipal buildings (library, middle school) fronting the two major avenues, and residential multi-family and elderly developments on interior cul-de-sac roads. Some open land remains as Meadowbrook Park.

Typology & Materials

Building Typology

Materials


Structural System

Roof materials


Roof type


Approximate Dimensions

34 x 54 feet

Source

Date Compiled

07/08/2008

Compiled By

Charlotte Hitchcock, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photography: Todd Levine 7/08/2008, Charlotte Hitchcock 11/06/2010.

Town of Hamden Assessors Record and GIS Viewer: http://Hamdengis.com/ags_map/default.htm?MBL=2629-004-00-0000.
63.63-acre parcel includes Hamden Middle School, Meadowbrook Park.

Aerial Mapping:
http://maps.google.com
http://www.bing.com/maps accessed 1/01/2011.

Hamden Historic Properties Commmission/Hamden Historical Society, “Historic Hamden Connecticut: a Self-Guided Tour,” pamphlet, no date (after 2001, before 2007).

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.

 

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