Remodeled Farmhouses Part 13

Up-stairs in the ell of the house, over the sun-parlor, is a large sitting-room. It has been so designed that it faces three different directions and is lighted by a group of long windows at one side. In this room the sunlight lays practically all day, making it a bright, livable room, where Colonial features have not been considered. To be sure there are several pieces, such as the old-time work-table, but modern ideas mainly have been introduced. On either side of the cl.u.s.ter of windows are built-in bookcases which have been painted white to match the trim and are filled with well-read books. Between these bookcases is a long window-seat, beneath which drawers have been built which are very convenient for holding unfinished work. The hangings are of muslin with blue over-drapery, harmonizing with the color scheme of the room. A large, open fireplace on the opposite side provides for a cheery wood fire, more especially on stormy days, for this house is one that is lived in all the year round, so that heating and lighting had to be taken into consideration.

In addition to this room there are three chambers, two bathrooms, and a closet on the floor. Each one of these chambers has been given a different treatment. One of the most interesting shows fine woodwork in the paneled doors and also in the small closet that is over the fireplace, a favorite place for a closet to be introduced in the early days. The fireplace is not a large one, and the andirons are small-sized steeple tops. The bed is an old slat bed, while every piece of furniture is in keeping with the period.

Take it all in all, one rarely finds a farmhouse that shows more attractive features than this one, where comfort, light, and view have all been carefully considered. It is perfectly available for an all-the-year-round home, as it is not too far from the station to allow its occupants to go back and forth to business every day.

CHAPTER XX

THE WALTER SCOTT HOPKINS HOUSE

When you plan to remodel your house, there is nothing that should receive much more careful attention than the closets. It is doubtful, that is, if the house is of the earliest period, if you will find many.

Our emigrant ancestors did not have as many clothes or table appointments as we require to-day. The few of the former they possessed were hung on pegs or disposed of in chests; the dishes were placed on racks, thus eliminating the necessity for closet room in houses where every available bit of s.p.a.ce was utilized for living purposes.

In all probability you will find corner cupboards which will be more or less elaborate in design. The best examples show a sh.e.l.l treatment. The earliest corner cupboards were clumsy affairs, being movable; later on they were built into the house and employed to hold family china and gla.s.sware. There was a great variety in these closets, some being fitted up with shelves only, while others were divided in two, the underneath part being used for books and odds and ends.

Fortunate is the house owner who finds in his old house one or more of these old corner cupboards. To be sure they can be reproduced; but how much better are the originals. Dig out the old plaster, rip open the sides of the part.i.tions, if you think there is any chance of odd closets being hidden away between, and remember that in many old houses there are secret closets, and it will pay you to tap the wall s.p.a.ce to discover their whereabouts. Sometimes they are hidden under the flooring, and again the s.p.a.ce between the windows is used for this purpose. It is always well to open them, for who knows what valuable heirlooms may be hidden inside.

There are plenty of s.p.a.ces where new closets can be introduced as, for instance, the end of the dining-room, where a gla.s.sed-in china closet with an arched top and half-domed interior makes an excellent place to display the old china and gla.s.s. Panels in the wainscot can be utilized, more especially when they are under the first step of the staircase.

These are most convenient for filing newspapers or any magazines that are kept for reference.

If the hallway is paneled, it is a very easy matter to put an invisible door into one of the panels. This can be used for the coat closet, with a low shelf underneath to hold hats; and on the floor part.i.tions can be made to hold rubbers. On each side of the chimney a great deal of waste s.p.a.ce can be converted into bookcases, with little, leaded, gla.s.s doors.

Above the mantel, set in the chimney-breast, will be found s.p.a.ces which even in the early days were devoted to closets. They are cut in a panel and were used to protect china or old pewter from the dust. Sometimes three of these closets have been found built into the fireplaces, all of which were used to hold the household china.

In the upper part of the house, under the attic stairs, can generally be found places that can be made into linen closets, but it must be remembered that if no ventilation is allowed, cloth will become yellowed, so by all means have bra.s.s ventilators in the doors. Whatever the purpose of the closet, its location should be carefully considered,--the shape, the place, and the cost,--so that as many as possible can be introduced.

There is no doubt that the majority of old-time farmhouses readily adapt themselves to modern requirements and show possibilities that allow of most attractive development. The result of working out certain possibilities is shown in the Walter Scott Hopkins house at Reading, Ma.s.sachusetts. It is a long, rambling house that seemed when first purchased wholly lacking in artistic qualities, and it was not until after careful deliberation that the owner realized that the old farmhouse, beneath its coating of acc.u.mulated dust, possessed a wealth of fine features that were well worth developing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Before Remodeling]

The house had been used for two families, and each section was separate and distinct, although under the same roof. It was built in the latter part of the eighteenth century and contains fine woodwork,--better than that found in most houses of that day. All the distinctive features of the Colonial architecture were evident in this old farmhouse, where unbroken roof-line, close-cropped eaves, and small-paned windows were placed with mathematical precision, and the severely simple exterior was in strict conformity with the period.

In remodeling the house, the original outlines were carefully preserved, and the additions were made to conform. The small, ugly entrances which had marred the exterior of the house were torn down and replaced by windows, so that only a single entrance was left. A very attractive porch with sloping roof-line was supported by solid but unornamented columns. In the roof dormer windows were cut, both at the front and rear. This was to make the attic practical for living purposes by affording sufficient light and air. At one side of the house, in place of the woodshed, an out-of-door living-room was added, broad and low of build, with a sloping roof that harmonized in outline with the main roof. At the rear a small addition of the deep, bay-window type was added; this was to secure extra s.p.a.ce for the newly arranged dining-room and the remodeled kitchen. Two small porches were built in addition to the new trellised entrance, giving a simple dignity to the old house, which has been painted white with green blinds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: As Remodeled]

The grounds, rough and unkempt, with a stone wall defining a part of them, were beautified to afford a fitting environment for the new home, and to-day smooth sweeps of lawn and judicious groupings of shrubbery add in no small degree to the exterior attractiveness of the old homestead. A path of rough, irregular flagstones leads to the main entrance, and a similar path winds from the street to a gateway in the outlying wall and opens into a charming garden plot that has been laid out just beyond the outdoor living-room. Planting has been judiciously carried out, and the estate has been brought to a fine state of cultivation, with the result that it has become an attractive setting for the remodeled house, which stands on the slope of a hill.

The interior required a great deal of altering, including much tearing down of part.i.tions to suit present-day needs and to make broad, s.p.a.cious rooms out of the tiny s.p.a.ces which sufficed a century or more ago. There was installation of plumbing, lighting and heating devices, in order to meet the demands of modern life, and the New England attic was made over into servants' quarters that were sufficiently ample for a large country house.

A leaded gla.s.s door that shows fanlight above opens into a broad, low-ceilinged hall. At one side is a large fireplace, and a heavy beam crosses the ceiling. To the right is the new dining-room, to the left the living-room, and from the end of the hall opens the den, a pa.s.sageway connecting this with the servants' department. In all the rooms every detail of the old-fashioned construction has been retained.

The fine woodwork shows the original paneling; the great fireplaces with their chimney closets have been preserved intact, and even the old, hand-made hardware has been retained for present-day use. Cupboards were discovered, when the coating of plaster and paper were removed, and are serving the same purpose in the twentieth-century home that they did years ago in the Colonial one; and the new cupboards that have been added seem to fit in as if they had always been there. The house in its entirety shows many points that are of unusual interest. The arrangement of the windows is particularly good, as are the chimneys, while the sweeping roof-line at the rear carries out the old contour and yet has been slightly changed to afford light and air to chambers inside. The semblance of the original farmhouse has been left unaltered, while the really radical changes have been tempered with a regard for the preservation of the old-time atmosphere.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Living Room]

The living-room shows a typical old farmhouse room. The woodwork here is particularly good; there is a wainscot three feet high that comes above the lower sill of the window frame, and which is paneled in doors and over the mantel. The fireplace has remained unchanged, being a Colonial one of huge size. The early period is evidenced in the absence of a mantel, which brings out the lines of the wonderful old woodwork to the greatest advantage. The andirons, instead of following the sixteenth or seventeenth-century type, represent griffins. A nightcap closet, introduced in the middle panel over the fireplace, shows the original H hinges of iron. When the house was first purchased, these were hidden away, and only when the original woodwork was reached were they discovered, restored, treated to a coat of white paint, and adapted to present use. This is a feature that is rarely found in the remodeled farmhouse of to-day. The walls are hung with a one-toned paper of soft coloring, while plain muslin curtains shade the windows. The old floor was re-laid with narrow boards over which are laid Daghestan rugs; Mission furniture is used. The lighting fixtures are of the Colonial type and placed at the sides only. The room contains many well-placed windows which give to it light and air.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Two Views of the Dining Room]

The dining-room is at the rear of the living-room and opens into it, being connected with a wide opening so that, if need be, the rooms can be used as one, giving plenty of s.p.a.ce for large dinner parties. Here the woodwork has been restored to its original charming simplicity and painted white to match that of the living-room. The walls have been covered with a dark-toned paper, and at one end, opposite the living-room, an alcoved recess has been added in order that its group of windows may give better lighting to the dining-room which is exposed to the outside on two sides only. The floors of this room, too, have been re-laid and handsomely polished, and are an effective foil to the domestic rug which is used. Here, also, the furniture follows the Mission style, in order to be in keeping with that of the living-room.

The lighting fixtures are of the same type found in the adjoining room and are also side lights, considered more effective because softer than a ceiling light.

In order to let the light in from the hallway, windows were inserted which follow the early window casing in their plain style and contain small panes, there being no elaboration. They are placed on either side of the entrance door, which is gla.s.sed in the upper portion. Here, as all through the house, the early style of small-paned windows has been retained. There are many reasons why these are advantageous: not only do they follow the period in which the house was built, carrying out details correctly, but when broken they are more easily replaced, though much harder to keep clean. These windows are usually placed near the ceiling, being designed for light and ornamentation, rather than as outlooks. The ornamental design which has been carried out in the arrangement of windows and door is unusual even in Colonial houses, where the low stud and the beamed ceiling helped much towards effectiveness.

This room was originally the kitchen and bedroom combined. The old fireplace has been preserved, as has the brick oven, and over it is a series of small closets such as are rarely found. There is a central closet and a smaller one on either side. Here the H hinges have been retained and also the old-time latches.

On the opposite side of the hall is the parlor, which corresponds in size to the living-room and shows equally fine woodwork. This was originally the parlor in the farther side of the double house and has been left practically its original shape and size, for in this part of the house very little remodeling has been done. The old fireplace has been retained at the farther end of the room.

At the rear of this, what was once the sitting-room has been converted into an office. Beyond this room, the original kitchen on that side of the house and the shed have been thrown into a most attractive summer room.

In the story above there were formerly two large bedrooms on either side. These remain practically as they were and are furnished with Colonial pieces. The old attic, which originally was used for clutter, is now remodeled into servants' quarters and by the addition of the dormer windows has been made into comfortable rooms which can be kept cool during the warm weather by the cross draughts.

The architects were very wise in remodeling this house so as to show its extremely simple lines, for they give it individuality and character and accentuate certain features that were necessary to create of it a home for one family. There is no doubt that the alterations have been planned and executed with rare taste and discrimination.

CHAPTER XXI

Henry W. Wright's House

People who possess old pieces of furniture often have very erroneous ideas as to their real age and call everything "Colonial" for want of a better name. They a.s.sume, that is, if they have not made a careful study of the subject, that anything belonging to their great grandmother must be at least two hundred years old. But, for instance, sideboards were not made two hundred years ago, and Chippendale never designed one; the nearest he came to it was a serving-table. People get an impression that he included this piece of furniture in his productions, but they are wrong in their a.s.sumption.

The revival of interest in "antiques" has caused many an heirloom that has been relegated to attic or storehouse to be brought out, renovated, and given a prominent place. Can we a.s.sign to each ancient article an approximate date or maker, it becomes much more valuable than the daintiest piece of up-to-date furniture. Worm-holes are a sign of age and a proof of guarantee, that is, if the pieces are family possessions.

There is so much cunning workmanship in remodeled furniture that this does not apply to every bit, though apparently original. It must be remembered that very few furnishings were brought over by the colonists, and the early houses were very scantily supplied.

The oldest furniture was made of oak; it was very heavy and showed more or less elaboration in carving. Chests made at this early period are often found in families where they have been carefully treasured since they were brought over the sea packed with clothing.

The three leading cabinetmakers were Chippendale, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton. Chippendale was the earliest but was not appreciated until after his death. His masterpieces, which combined the Chinese, French, and Dutch models with ideas originated in his own brain, were so perfectly constructed that we find them in a fine state of preservation even to-day.

Lighter and more dainty in character were the designs of Hepplewhite, who cultivated a freedom of line such as was adopted by his predecessor, but who banished the Chippendale heaviness. The Prince of Wales feather was a favorite design of his. Carved drapery, the belle-flower, and wheat were often used by him. A distinguishing mark was usually given to the backs of his chairs, which are either oval, heart, or shield-shaped.

They were finished in j.a.panned work and often inlaid in light and dark wood. The legs were generally much more slender than the Chippendale and often ended in what is known as a spade-foot.

Sheraton, who succeeded him, took advantage of the ideas of his forerunners and revealed a still more delicate touch, although he retained many of Hepplewhite's ideas which he strengthened and improved.

The shield is rarely if ever found in a chair of his make, which can be distinguished by its rectangular back and its slender uprights, ranging in number from four to seven. The legs show a great many different styles, the best being straight, while carved, fluted, and twisted ones are also found. The general trend of fancy in those days was towards light, elegant designs and showy decorations. Sheraton indulged his fancy for brilliant coloring in the most gorgeously painted decorations, combining them with inlay and carving. Next he introduced white and gold, following the French style, and still later the bra.s.s inlay so fashionable in Napoleon's day. Caned work was used for seats and was varied by coverings of needlework, morocco, striped and variegated horsehair, damasks, and fine printed silks. The curved piece which Sheraton introduced about 1800 remained the favorite chair pattern for a century, although it lost the bra.s.s mounts which he at first used. There is not much danger of confounding the three great masters, for each produced an entirely different style of furniture.

After the French Revolution, the furniture became markedly different in style; Greek models were once more popular, and the tripod became a favorite support. Coa.r.s.e woods and mahogany were freely used and were carved and profusely gilded.

The Empire furniture which is so popular to-day was heavy and stiff in its early period, particularly so when of English make, but under American manipulation the beauty of the wood showed to the best advantage. Yet there is a certain appeal in its solidity and ma.s.siveness. When the darkened mahogany came into fashion an opportunity arose for the revival of bra.s.s and wood that lent charm to the court of the Empress Josephine. Few good examples of the Empire style are found in remodeled farmhouses.

Old furniture is most interesting, and if you intend to furnish your remodeled farmhouse with it, do not fail to make a careful study of the subject before attempting it. It covers a wide field of makers, styles, and decorations, but the modern home affords ample scope for the employment of these old pieces, many of which have been brought down from the attic.

When Salem was in her highest and proudest days of mercantile prosperity, when her wharves were bustling scenes of unlading and shipping, when her harbor was a gathering place of quaintly rigged vessels, and great East-Indiamen labored under clouds of canvas, then from the holds of these c.u.mbersome ships were discharged cargoes of rich furniture, teakwood, and sandalwood brought from every land. The wealth of these incoming treasures has made the quiet city prominent even until to-day. Here may be found many old heirlooms, and in the homes of the descendants of old shipmasters we frequently find rare pieces. These show to advantage in various remodeled farmhouses that have been adopted as all-the-year-round homes by the last generation.