The Barn Yard Covered Bridge

The Barn Yard Covered Bridge is one of the newest entries on Connecticut's list of covered bridges, built in April 2021 by the carpenters and crew of The Barn Yard, a family-run business in Ellington. When the property next door came up for sale, brothers Chris and Everett Skinner, part of the company's third generation of leadership, saw an opportunity to expand — except the two parcels were separated by Belding Brook. Rather than build something purely functional, they decided to build something worth visiting in its own right.

The result is a 56-foot span built on the Town lattice truss Connecticut-born architect Ithiel Town patented in 1820, using crossed timbers joined with oak pegs and traditional joinery instead of nails or screws — a construction method that took roughly a year to complete. The exterior siding was built entirely from reclaimed antique wood to give the new bridge a weathered, historic look, and the approach ramps were paved with reclaimed granite cobblestones salvaged from the streets of Boston. It's a rare case of a brand-new covered bridge built purely out of enthusiasm for the tradition rather than necessity.