Over the front door a small porch was built which was in strict keeping with the period. Trellises were erected at one side of the house for rambler roses and vines that would break the plain, solid effect of the shingled surface. An old-fashioned well was boxed in, at the rear of the kitchen entrance, and furnishes drinking-water for the family. The old chimney was retained, so that the fireplaces could be used.
When the house was first built, there were two rooms at the front and at the rear a kitchen, kitchen-bedroom, and a dairy. The three small rooms were thrown into one large room which is now used as a dining-room. When the plaster was scraped off from the ceiling, it was found that there were hand-hewn beams underneath in such a good state of preservation that they were left uncovered, giving to the new apartment a distinctive touch. It was then discovered that the house had been built around a tree, for a substantial oak, with its roots deep in the ground and its large trunk still shouldering the roof beam, was disclosed. Underneath the old paper was found fine wood paneling which was scraped and painted white; next the fireplace was opened, and proved to be eight feet wide with a swinging crane at the back. This was restored to its original size, and a square, brick hearth was laid. The old floors were replaced by new ones, and the entire room was given the tone of the period. Rag rugs are laid on the floor, and all the furniture represents seventeenth-century pieces. At one end of the room is the dining-table, and at the farther side, large French windows hung with chintz open on to a vine-clad veranda.
The Living Room
The parlor, which opened from the dining-room, was covered with many layers of dirty wall-paper. When these were removed, it was discovered that there was a very fine wainscoting. In one corner was a three-cornered cupboard with a paneled door underneath. The fireplace was opened up, and when the room was painted it developed into one of the most charming rooms in the house. The paneling was painted just off the white, and the walls were hung with soft, gray paper with tiny pink flowers, making the color scheme of the room gray and pink. This was carried out in all the furnishings,—the chintz used for cushions and the hangings harmonizing with these tones. Instead of having all the furniture of the Colonial period, comfortable willow chairs were introduced, in order to give the light, airy touch that makes a summer home distinctive. This is a large, livable room, well-lighted by many windows and looking out upon the lawn and the garden.
The hallway is of the plain, simple type which was so common in the oldest houses. The walls are covered with a reproduction of an old-time landscape paper, and the passage forms the division line between the old sitting-room and the dining-room. This dining-room is now used as a chamber; it is large and sunny with a wide-open fireplace. It is furnished with an Empire bed and shows everything that would have been found in the early days in a chamber of this kind, even to the spirit lamp that stands on the high mantel, the warming-pan beside the generous fireplace, the oval mirror, and the wooden cradle with its hand-woven blanket, where now sleeps a twentieth-century baby.
