As Remodeled
The screened-in veranda at the back is used as an out-of-doors living-room. It is wide, carpeted with rugs, and furnished with simple but substantial pieces. It is a most comfortable place, where charming views and wonderful vistas can be enjoyed, for beyond lie the old orchard with the meadows between and a background of finger-pointed pines that seemingly melt into the blue of the sky. Trellises were built on the garden side of the house to carry vines, but this was after the house had been given a coat of white paint and the blinds painted green. Over the veranda a balcony was built which can be used for outdoor sleeping purposes if desired. The picket fence was restored and painted white to match the coloring of the house, and a stone wall was built at the farther end to enclose the garden; on the outside wild shrubs were planted to give a note of color to the gray stone. The old trees, pruned, took on a new life and are now in a most nourishing condition; across the entire front, as a partial screening, silver-leafed poplars were planted. The farm lands were reclaimed, new trees planted in the old apple orchard, and at the side of the house an attractive garden was laid out with a background of apple-trees. It was a small garden, only about an eighth of an acre in size, and filled with old-fashioned flowers to make it harmonize with the period in which the house was built. A single path divides it in two, and its color schemes have been given careful study.
At one side of the garden a rustic pergola has been built with a central path of grass, and over this a grapevine has been trained which makes it a restful, shady place in summer, while in early fall the vines are loaded with great clusters of purple grapes. Everywhere surrounding the garden are stretches of green lawns that prove a fitting setting to the bright blossoms in the trim and well-kept beds. The fields beyond have been brought back to a good state of cultivation and present a beautiful green tract beyond which stretch rich meadows with waving grass where flit the bobolink and the red-winged blackbird. In the trees around the house orioles and robins nest, while everywhere the old apple-trees grow, many of them gnarled and twisted with age. In the early fall, loaded with fruit, they form an attractive color note of red and yellow in the landscape. Great care has been taken to remove the branches of the old trees in order to afford attractive vistas. This gives a landscape picture carefully planned and creates a delightful feeling of restfulness and a sense of relief from the bustle of city life.
Over the porch has been built a lattice to be covered eventually with rambler roses, and in order to obtain more light, clusters of windows have been let in on either side of the front door.
The interior as well as the exterior has been carefully planned with a regard to light and views. One enters the house through the little porch and finds himself in a spacious hallway which extends to the living-room. The staircase is at the right of the' entrance. It is not a primitive affair of the ladder type which is the earliest on record; neither is it steep with flat treads, high risers and molded box stringers, but the kind that shows simple posts and rail with plain balusters. It is of the box stringer type and has no carving in either post or balusters; it is perfectly straight and leads by easy treads to the second-story floor.
The Dining Room
The dining-room is at the left of the hallway and is a room built for comfort and for everyday life, showing plenty of windows. A feature is the great, open fireplace and the bricked chimney-breast, with small closets at one side. The woodwork in this room is the same that was in the house when it was discovered by Mr. Loeffler and, cleaned and treated to a coat of paint, is most attractive. The wide board floor has been retained and stained dark to bring out the color schemes of the rugs.