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Now, nearly 100 years later, the barn that once housed cows is home to Johnson Millwork, specializing in period architectural woodworking.
"We've done work on a number of historical buildings - the Mark Twain House, Wesleyan, Yale, the State House," Johnson said. "Then we do private residences, too."
The public is invited to tour Johnson's barn and six other Haddam Neck barns today as part of a barn tour sponsored by the Haddam Historical Society.
While tours of historic homes may be more common, barns provide just as much of a link to the past, said Elizabeth Malloy, executive director of the Haddam Historical Society.
"A lot of early settlers would build the barn before the house," Malloy said. "They'd build little huts to live in while they would construct a decent barn. If they didn't have animals, they wouldn't survive."
Every home had a barn 200 years ago, Malloy said, and many still remain.
"There's a lot more than you'd think," she said. "I think people drive by them all the time and don't really notice them."
Malloy estimates there are between 50 and 70 barns in Haddam, maybe more.
"In Haddam Neck alone, there's probably a good 20," she said.
Malloy is organizing today's tour to "raise awareness on how important these buildings really are to our past and could be to our future," she said. "From an architectural point of view, they do provide a link to our past."
As people are turning more to farmers markets and planting their own gardens, these restored barns "tie in nicely with that whole movement."
"It's recycling at its most elementary stage," Malloy said. "They can be reused for different purposes."
Of the seven barns on the tour, a few have been adapted for modern use, including Johnson's, for his woodworking business, and another for an architect's office. One is on a farm that raises goats for angora wool, and another has been in the family for 300 years
"You don't have to tear them down," Malloy said. "They can be used for many other purposes."
The tour is part of an effort to raise awareness about barns as Haddam conducts a survey of barns with the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, which is compiling a list of existing barns around the state.
"We're actually doing a barn survey of all of the barns in Haddam," Malloy said. "We've done house tours before, but we thought to raise awareness of barns we thought we'd show some of the ones we've surveyed."
One of the barns on the tour is located on a piece of property being purchased for protected open space by the Middlesex Land Trust. The barn, which is in disrepair, has to be removed from the property because of the liability.
"We're hoping someone may come along this weekend and take interest in it and move it," Malloy said.
The tour will run between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and tickets and maps will be available at the Haddam Neck Fairgrounds Grange, 26 Quarry Hill Road, where a market and bake sale will be held. Tickets are $15 per person and $30 for families. The day will feature guided tours, farm animals, children's activities and demonstrations. Haddam Neck resident Peter Smith will give a talk on the "Neck" at the scenic Brainerd overlook at 1 p.m., and the Ladies Aid Society of the Haddam Neck Congregational Church will serve lunch for $10 at the historic Haddam Neck School House from noon to 2 p.m.
For more information about the Haddam Historical Society, visit haddamhistory.org. For more information about the statewide barn survey, visit connecticutbarns.org.
Jennifer Sprague can be reached at jsprague@middletownpress.com or by calling (860) 347-3331, ext. 222.
