The building was a two-story, shingled structure with an uncompromising squareness about it. The wide, gable roof sloped down to the stud of the first floor, giving but little room in the chambers above. It was of the central chimney type. In the rear, a small, gable-roofed ell had been added, and later still a flat-roofed shed at right angles to the ell, or parallel to the main house, was built. In still a third addition, a well was incorporated in the rear, under a continuation of the roof of the shed, and another small outhouse in an extension to the side. This seeming conglomeration of roofs in reality made a rather interesting and graceful play of line that lifted the little house from commonplaceness.
It was found to be in such good condition on the exterior that little repairing was needed, but several alterations were made, adding both to the character of the building and the comfort of the occupants. The original front door opened very abruptly upon the stairs, leaving only enough hall space to open the door. This was remedied by the addition of a small, flat-roofed bay at the front, increasing the space in the hall by just that much. The old door with its bull's-eyes was used in the new position. The step before it was protected under the same roof, supported on two, small, square posts and a trellis at the sides, giving somewhat the effect of an old-time Colonial porch and serving not only the material purpose of adding room to the interior but of relieving the abrupt and uninteresting severity of the front lines. In the second story, unusually successful dormers were cut in both the back and front pitch of the roof. The plan of these dormers deserves especial study, as each group is in reality composed of three separate dormers, enlarging three rooms in the interior, but confined under the one flat roof. Note, too, how each end of the dormer extends beyond the middle portion, and how the shape of the windows accents the design.
A new entrance was cut at the side toward the lane, and a screened veranda added, with a flat roof corresponding to that at the front. Several new windows were made necessary by the rearrangements in the interior, but they were placed with careful regard to the exterior proportion and balance. The glass used in the old windows when the house was bought was all the full size of the sashes, doubtless having been put there by some recent owner and seeming quite out of harmony with the details of the house; consequently they were replaced with small panes, twenty-four to a window, and the new windows were all of the casement type.
The interior of the house with its ugly paint and paper, presented a rather hopeless appearance, that only a vivid imagination and an unwavering enthusiasm could have transformed into the attractive home that it is to-day. Beginning at the front, the cramped little hall was enlarged as has already been explained. This made a trifle more stair room, and the first seven steps reaching to the little landing were rebuilt with lower risers and broader treads that made ascent to the second floor a less arduous matter.
On the left of the hall was the living-room, on the right a bedroom, and in the rear of the house the room originally designed for the kitchen; in each of these was a fireplace opening out of the one central chimney.
The first step in the restoration consisted of tearing off the many layers of hideous wall-paper, removing the plaster where it was crumbling, and scraping the woodwork free from its dingy paint. In these operations a number of unexpected discoveries were made concerning the fine old paneling and great, hand-hewn beams that had been entirely covered up.
A Corner of the Living Room
The only change made in the plan of this floor was in the corner beyond the living-room and at the end of the kitchen. This was originally divided into a tiny chamber opening from the living-room, and a pantry off the kitchen. These were thrown into one, and the openings to living-room and kitchen enlarged. The former bedroom window was changed to a door leading on to the screened veranda, and an attractive group of three casement windows replaced the one in the rear wall, overlooking the charming vista of winding lane and old apple-trees and meadows beyond. This little apartment has been treated as a sort of anteroom or really a wing of the living-room, and wall finish, paint, and furnishings all harmonize.