David Pinney House and Barn

The David Pinney House and Barn is of local significance to Windsor Locks because it is representative of a way of life important in the town's history and because of the relative paucity of historical architecture in that town. before the canal was opened, bringing trade and supplying power for manufacturing, this area (then part of Windsor) was dependent upon agriculture. Indeed, farming was the livelihood of many families even after industrialization. This property was operated as a farm until this century when it was willed to the town for public use. Not mich is known of David Pinney, who owned the property when these two buildings were built, other than that he was one of Windsor Locks' many husbandmen. The barn is also of architectural interest. Brick barns are very uncommon in New'England and one may speculate that the Pinneys had some Pennsylvania connection. More likely, the fire resistance of brick and the fact that a brick yard immediately adjoined the property were factors in the choice of materials. However atypical, the building embodies the functionalism characteristic of barns. Except for the arched openings and a saw-tooth course along the cornice, there is little of a decorative nature. The change of grade to allow entrance to the second-level, the ventilators built into the gable brickwork, and the doors from the second floor to the'stalls below are all features which are directly related to the needs of storing grain and moving it efficiently within the barn. Research into legal records indicates the barn was built around 1825, making it an early specimen of a fast-disappearing form.