Historic Homes of New England

by Mary Harrod Northend

Plate LXI.—Parlor, Savory House; Living Room, Savory House.

The old-time parlor opens out of the hallway. It is now in common use, being converted into the family sitting-room. On one side of the room is rare and choice woodwork with panel effect, broken in the center by a deep and wide fireplace, a dominating feature of this homelike room. The cheery glow of the great oak logs, as they burn on the seventeenth-century, steeple-topped andirons, fills the imagination with pictures of the people who lived here many years ago. The furniture could no doubt unfold many an interesting story: the Dutch table in the center of the room, for instance, was a part of great-grandmother Parker's wedding furniture; and the Hepplewhite card-table, designed in 1785, was a part of the first bride's furnishings.

There are Chippendale chairs, with carved rosettes, in low relief, vis-a-vis with a child's slat-back chair. The carpet, which has always been in this room, is one of the first ever laid in a Groveland home.

The well-lighted living-room shows many quaint windows with small paned glass and broad sills. These, during the winter time, are used as conservatories. Large, built-in cupboards, with glass doors, are filled with the rarest sets of old-time china. A full set of old Lowestoft, with the monogram of the bride, was imported from China, arriving just before the wedding. There is Staffordshire ware of the choicest kind, and a wealth of English glass. Not a piece has been broken since it was brought to the house, a century and a half ago.

In this same room are many of the rarest bits of china to be found in all New England, while in the bookcases which line two sides of the room are many old books, some of which show the Parker bookplate.

Between the living-room and the dining-room is the den, where, on the shelves of a built-in cupboard, are wonderful pieces of old pewter. These date back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a period when this metal was in vogue for household use. Many of the pieces bear the excise stamp, a cross and a crown, showing that they are of early make. The rarest pieces, however, show three distinct stamps. Fortunately, even though pewter went out of fashion, and was consequently melted, the family was one of the few who appreciated its worth, so that not even one piece has ever been destroyed.

Rarely are found even in New England houses such a wealth of closets as are seen here. They have been carefully built to conform with the general breadth of construction and low stud that emphasize the interior finish of this house. In each one is a collection such as would make a connoisseur envious, for in handing down through the generations, there has been no division, a fact which gives the collections additional historic value.

The most interesting room is the dining-room. Here the furnishing has never been changed. The sideboard is of the Empire period, and on it is shown wonderful old family silver, including some communion pieces of rare make. The chairs are of the Windsor type, painted white, with the exception of one, an old pulpit chair. This was originally used by an ancestor of the family, who was a pastor of the Groveland church. At the time of remodelling, it was removed and brought to the Parker home.