The China Closet in the Dining Room
The service portion is well arranged both for convenience of labor and comfort of the domestics. The basement laundry leads directly into a large drying yard which was the original enclosure for the cows and is surrounded by the same wall of field stone.
Up-stairs the rooms might be said to be divided into three suites, which can be practically shut off from each other: each has its own bath and sleeping-porch. In the group over the living-room there has been an ingenious solution of the structural conditions. The division of the rooms made possible by the old supports permitted a dressing-room to be placed conveniently between the two chambers, but the fireplace added in the living-room was directly below, so that the chimney would naturally cut off the outside wall. It would have been possible to construct a large fireplace in the dressing-room and allow the light to come through the chambers, but the architects evolved another scheme. The chimney was carried up on one side, providing a fireplace for one of the chambers, and a second chimney was built in the opposite corner of the dressing-room. In the space between, a window was cut, and the two flues joined directly over the window. From the outside of the building this gives a most unusual effect as there is a chimney directly over a window, having no apparent support, or even purpose. The lines of the pyramidal base conform to the slope of the roof.
CHAPTER VII
BOULDER FARM
The remodeling of an old farmhouse is apparently a simple matter; it would at first seem necessary only to preserve the main lines and characteristics of the original in the alterations that are required to meet the conditions of modern life. But when one realizes that the less conspicuous details are also important, in order to maintain the essential harmony of the whole, it becomes a more intricate proposition. One cannot merely study the details already on the building and slavishly copy them for the new parts, because frequently it will be found that doors or windows or shutters have been added by more recent owners and are not really in keeping with the old structure at all. In order to reclaim the house, then, so that it shall have a consistent unity throughout, one must have some understanding of the evolution of these details.
There is no more significant element in these old Colonial houses than the front door. It was placed in the center of the front wall and formed the unit of the exterior design. The very early doors were of heavy oak boards placed vertically and fastened together with horizontal strips. These batten doors, as they were called, were made very sturdy and strong, in order to resist attacks from Indians or other marauders. Often they were marked with an awl into diamond and lozenge patterns and sometimes studded with hand-wrought nails. Not for a good many years did the panel door come into use. At first it was a flat panel, flush with the sides of the door and separated from the sides and top only by a small bead molding. This was soon developed into the flat sunken panel, meeting the surrounding wood with several moldings; and then the panels were beveled and raised in the center, and the moldings gradually became more elaborate and delicate in outline. The early doors were solid for purposes of protection, but as the country became more settled, thick bull's-eye glass was inserted into the top horizontal panel to let light into the hall. As the interior plan was changed in its evolution, the hall became larger, and these bull's-eyes did not provide sufficient light, so the transom was introduced over the door. For some time a simple top light was used, divided by lead and then wooden muntins. Then side lights were introduced, and the treatment became more elaborate in the beautiful styles of the later Georgian period.
The frame about the door was at first of flat, undecorated boards, the upper one resting on the two at the sides. Then these were molded and mitered at the corners, and later a cap of heavier moldings was put across the top. This hood became more and more prominent and required the use of definite support. Console brackets were sometimes used but more frequently flat pilasters set against the wall. These gradually became more important, developing into the three-quarter round and finally the isolated column. The pediment and cornice were then extended into the open porch that is one of the splendid features of the Georgian style. Here in cornice and capital was a field for the development of all the most delicate and beautiful motives of classic carving.
As this door and porch was the center of the design of the exterior, the windows were grouped symmetrically about it, the same on each side. There were few of them at first, and they were of rather small size. Casement windows were the earliest kind used, and the small, diamond panes were sunk in lead, as were those made in the mother country. It is probable that most of these windows were brought over from England and not constructed here. After 1700, the sliding sash was introduced, dividing the windows horizontally, and these had wooden muntins. It must have been considered a more elegant type of window, for it was used in the front of the house for a long time, while the leaded casement was still put in rear windows for many years. The early wooden muntins were quite heavy but later became nearly as delicate as the leaden ones. They divided the sash horizontally and vertically into squares.