Mick_VT wrote:I'm thinking it may be a former chicken coup
That's my thinking as well. Back in the day, many people used to have three or four hens around to serve as egg-layers. Even in my neighborhood, which was built as an early suburban development, people kept hens up until the late 1920s or so.
On a related note, there's a rather humorous story about the youngest son of the original owners of my house. Seems that around 1919, at age 7, he became attached to one of the egg-laying hens his family kept. He apparently made it a point to visit it every evening after school. Well, one day after she was getting past her prime with egg-laying, he came home and couldn't find her. He came up to the house and noticed their maid was preparing fried chicken for dinner that evening. His young mind made the connection and he had a meltdown. The kid in question passed away in 1979 and the story was relayed by his daughter, who was around 80 when she told us.