The living-room, or drawing-room as it was called in those days, is a large, square room that is at the left of the hallway. In this room are shown the pictures of many of the distinguished guests who in former years were visitors at the house and intimate friends of the owner. The fireplace is a large one, the woodwork hand-carved, and in the large panels above has been inserted the Dalton coat of arms. The windows are recessed, showing window-seats; each one has the hinged shutter such as was used in the early days for security, being closed and barred every night. These are still used in this same way in this mansion to-day. A feature of this room is the fine wood-carving shown in the casing of the door. At one side, hanging on the wall, is a scrap of the old wall-paper that once adorned the wall. It is of seventeenth-century pattern, with garlands, and is finished in light colors and pink groundwork, a delicate and most unusual wall-paper. This is the only room in the house, so far as is known, which was covered with the old-time wall-paper.
At the right are double parlors which may have been used for dining-room, or living-room and dining-room, combined. Here are also found wonderful panellings, but very little of the elaborate hand-carving. All of the wood in this house, as in most of the houses of the same period, is of white pine, for this wood is considered one of the best wearing kinds that has ever grown. The timbers are of solid oak and are as staunch as they were in the days when the house was built. In these rooms have been entertained the dignitaries of the land, while in the parlor were celebrated the marriages of the daughters of the household.
The mansion has an atmosphere of attraction and spaciousness rarely found in houses of this description. It is shown in the abundance of light and in the arrangement of the rooms, which have been planned for elaborate entertaining. At the rear of the house are the servants' quarters. The large, old-fashioned fireplace, where in former days the cooking for the Dalton family was done, is now a thing of the past, modern appliances having replaced the spit and the large brick oven. The ell of the house, a part of which was removed, was originally nearly as large as the main portion. It was once used exclusively for servants' quarters, and even then was barely large enough for the enormous retinue that was needed to run the Dalton household.
Up-stairs the rooms correspond to the large ones downstairs, with the exception that on the right-hand side a partition divides what was formerly a large room into two smaller ones. These rooms still show the same fine panelling, the old-time brass locks and hardware that were features of the house at the time of its building. They have never been replaced by modern fixtures.
The third story was used for guests' rooms, the slope of the roof being eliminated by boarding the gambrel roof so as to make square chambers. The old chimneys, six feet square, have been taken down, and small ones have replaced them. The railing of this house, which was originally a two decker, has been removed and while not materially changing its appearance, still gives it a little different look. An iron fence has been substituted for the old paling fence which once enclosed the grounds, while new posts have replaced the old ones. The courtyard is grassed over, also the space between house and fence, and a wide, paved stone walk leads to the entrance porch. In 1796 this house was sold, together with Dalton's other residences, after he had been defeated for re-election, a serious disappointment, although his letters written at the time do not show any signs of anger or ill-nature.
The Pipestave Hill Great Farm residence was sold for thirty-seven hundred pounds, while his land on State Street brought a much lower sum. The house was practically cleared of all the Dalton furniture, the household goods being carefully packed and shipped on a sailing vessel bound to Georgetown, District of Columbia. During the voyage the vessel was wrecked, and a part of his household belongings were thus lost. Since then the house has passed into various hands. Fortunately the different owners venerated the old homestead and it has been carefully preserved, so that notwithstanding its many years of life, it is practically in perfect condition.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE KITTREDGE HOUSE
Among the most prominent delegates to the convention that was summoned by the Legislature to meet in Boston, in 1787, to take under consideration the perfecting of the National Constitution, we find heading the list one Doctor Thomas Kittredge of North Andover, a prominent gentleman and one whose loyalty has never been questioned.