The Hillis Barn is a ground level barn and a perfect example of another New England Bay barn with the not often seen three bay design. These barns used bents or framing members to produce the bays that separated the barn into useable areas. It also utilizes the mortise and tenon form of timber framing. It is made again of circular sawn oak with board and batten siding. The Lean-To on the south gable end may have been added later to add more square footage.

There is a multitude of porthole windows or ventilators used on this structure. There are six on the north gable end and three of the original can still be seen above where the lean-to was added on the south. Four portholes on the west side and three on the east complete the visual impact of this barn.

 

It is thirty feet wide and forty-two feet long with an additional fifteen feet when taking the lean-to into consideration. A 4” x 4” hay carrier track was placed under the ridge of the roof line and there was once hay doors on the gable end of the barn used for moving hay to the loft area for storage. The barn supported by a limestone foundation also has a portion of the east side of the driveway bay with a wooden grain bin and chute that used gravity to deliver grain to the horses below.

Within the walls of the barn there are stalls for horse stabling, a separate storage area and even a corn crib.

The windows are also adorned with “keys” along the circular trim at every 90 degrees that provide an even more interesting visual appeal to the barn.

This Quilt is sponsored by the Farmers state Bank of White Hall.

Off highway 67 between Carrollton and Whitehall take Berdan Road East barn will be on south side of Road just past Berdan.

Quilt 6 Hillis Barn