Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings (Library of New England)

The quintessential New England barn -- photogenic, full of character, and framed by flaming autumn foliage -- is an endangered species. Of some 30,000 barns in Vermont alone, nearly a thousand a year are lost to fire, collapse, or bulldozers. Thomas Durant Visser's field guide to the barns, silos, sugar houses, granaries, tobacco barns, and potato houses of New England is an attempt to document not just their structure but their traditions and innovations before the surviving architectural evidence of this rich rural heritage is lost forever.A recognized authority on historic barn preservation, Visser has combed the six-state region for representative barns and outbuildings, and 200 of his photographs are reproduced here. The text, which includes accounts from 18th- and 19th-century observers, describes key architectural characteristics, historic uses, and geographic distribution as well as specific features like timbers and frames, sheathings, doors, and cupolas. From English barns to bank barns, from ice houses to outhouses, these irreplaceable assets, Visser writes, "linger as vulnerable survivors of the past. Yet before these buildings vanish, each has a story to tell." Travelers, residents, and scholars alike will find Visser's text invaluable in uncovering, understanding, and appreciating the stories inherent in these dwindling cultural artifacts. Title Page Contents Preface to Ebook Edition Preface 1 | Discovering the History of Farm Buildings Design Traditions, Fashions, and Innovations Timber Frames Hand-Hewn Timbers Scribe Rule and Square Rule Balloon Frames Nails Saw Marks Wall Sheathings Barn Doors Windows Foundations and Basements Cupolas and Ventilators Barns Model Diversification and Specialization 2 | Barns English Barns Acadian Barns Extended English Barns Side-Hill English Barns Field Barns and Hay Barns Reconfigured English Barns Gable-Front Barns Gable-Front Bank Barns High-Drive Bank Barns Monitor-Roofed BarnsCovered High-Drive Dairy Barns Round and Polygonal Dairy Barns Late-Nineteenth-Century Eaves-Front Bank Barns Madawaska Twin Barns Ground-Level Stable Barns Late-Twentieth-Century Dairy Barns 3 | Outbuildings Connected Barns Milk Rooms, Dairy Rooms, and Butteries Creameries or Dairies Icehouses Milk Houses Springhouses and Well Houses Windmills Outhouses and Privies Woodsheds and Wood Houses 4 | Buildings for Feed Storage Granaries Corn Cribs Interior Silos Square Wooden Silos Polygonal Wooden Silos Stacked-Wood Silos Wooden Stave Silos Concrete SilosTile Silos Steel Silos 5 | Other Farm Buildings Horse Stables and Carriage Barns Wagon Sheds Piggeries Slaughterhouses Smokehouses and Ash Houses Sheep Barns Henhouses Colony Houses Brooder Houses Converted Poultry Barns Multistory Poultry Barns 6 | Farm Buildings for Specialty Crops Maple Sugar Houses Greenhouses Hop Houses Potato Houses Tobacco Barns Cranberry Screenhouses and Outbuildings Blueberry Farm Buildings Apple Farm Buildings Notes Index

The quintessential New England barn–photogenic, full of character, and framed by flaming autumn foliage–is an endangered species. Of some 30, 000 barns in Vermont alone, nearly a thousand a year are lost to fire, collapse, or bulldozers. Thomas Durant Visser's field guide to the barns, silos, sugar houses, granaries, tobacco barns, and potato houses of New England is an attempt to document not just their structure but their traditions and innovations before the surviving architectural evidence of this rich rural heritage is lost forever. A recognized authority on historic barn preservation, Visser has combed the six-state region for representative barns and outbuildings, and 200 of his photographs are reproduced here. The text, which includes accounts from 18th– and 19th–century observers, describes key architectural characteristics, historic uses, and geographic distribution as well as specific features like timbers and frames, sheathings, doors, and cupolas. From English barns to bank barns, from ice houses to outhouses, these irreplaceable assets, Visser writes, "linger as vulnerable survivors of the past. Yet before these buildings vanish, each has a story to tell." Travelers, residents, and scholars alike will find Visser's text invaluable in uncovering, understanding, and appreciating the stories inherent in these dwindling cultural artifacts.

A generously illustrated handbook for identifying and understanding structures that symbolize the region's unique cultural and historical landscape.;Title Page; Contents; Preface to Ebook Edition; Preface; 1 | Discovering the History of Farm Buildings; Design Traditions, Fashions, and Innovations; Timber Frames; Hand-Hewn Timbers; Scribe Rule and Square Rule; Balloon Frames; Nails; Saw Marks; Wall Sheathings; Barn Doors; Windows; Foundations and Basements; Cupolas and Ventilators; Barns Model; Diversification and Specialization; 2 | Barns; English Barns; Acadian Barns; Extended English Barns; Side-Hill English Barns; Field Barns and Hay Barns; Reconfigured English Barns; Gable-Front Barns; Gable-Front Bank Barns; High-Drive Bank Barns