Plate XL.—Dining Room, Spencer-Pierce House; Living Room, Spencer-Pierce House.
Plate XLI.—Parlor, Spencer-Pierce House.
At the right is the old parlor, which is now used as the family dining-room. It is a spacious apartment, nineteen feet square, with walls two feet thick, corresponding in depth to all those found in the main house. Great oak beams, rough with marks of the adze, support the chamber floors. These beams, for many years boxed in, have been lately revealed. The table in the parlor is of the empire period, while the chairs are rough bottomed, Windsor, and other types, all colonial, though of mixed periods.
Singularly enough, the house differs from most of its kind in that it has two main chimneys, one providing fireplaces between the front rooms and the other built in the kitchen. During the summer months these are still used, but in the winter stoves are substituted.
The inner kitchen is now used as a living-room. It has been remodelled within the last few years, there being no plaster on the wall except that which was put directly on the stone. The old fireplace is still seen in this room, although adorned with a new mantel. Window-seats have been introduced, and many Sheraton chairs and Hepplewhite tables are seen. Indeed, every piece of furniture belongs to the same period.
While the eastern part of the house is the original building, the western end shows an attractive addition that was built on during Captain Boardman's lifetime for the benefit of his wife, who was a confirmed invalid. She had believed it was unhealthful to live between stone walls and so asked that this addition be built. This part shows the same finishing as other rooms in the house and is furnished like them in colonial style. The central feature is a gate-leg table, while a Sheraton chair of the Martha Washington type is found here, and a Chippendale, together with Dutch chairs having rush bottoms, dating back to 1740.
The chambers show a likeness to the lower rooms, and the attic is especially large. In the chambers there is little or no hand-carving but very good woodwork.