Pedimented Gable

Pedimented Gable is a triangular gable end of a roof above a full or broken cornice.

One example is the gable and broken cornice above the portico or entry porch. Another is the gable and full cornice found in the two front dormers. The third example is the end gables of the main structure which have broken box cornices. On some more noble structures, there is a full cornice there also.

Pilaster is a shallow rectangular column projecting only slightly from a wall. The wide vertical trim on the corners of the house and the trim on either side of the front entryway are examples.

Column is a supporting pillar consisting of a base, a usually cylindrical shaft, and a capitol. In the case of the Lucinda Manning house, the columns supporting the portico are square and the bases and capitols very simple indeed.

Portico or entry porch

Front entryways became fancier and more complicated with the Greek Revival style. They are bordered by a frieze on top and pilaster sides. Two narrow sidelights and sometimes a row of transom lights above, bring light into the foyer. The door and sidelights were often recessed somewhat from the front of the house.

Window sashes usually were 6 over 6 pane glazing in Greek Revival houses. Originally, the

Manning house would have had all 6 over 6.

Going modern is hardly a new custom and sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century,

Cornice and frieze copied from front

most of the downstairs window sashes were changed to the latest style, 2 over 2!

Though not Greek Style, the main door still has the additional original louvered door in front of it. I added a plexiglas panel to the back of the louvered door to form a storm door and added the same in front of the sidelights.

As we enlarged the house, it was important to continue the original style to make the addition appear as though it had been constructed all at one time. As seen in the photo at right, the new cornice and frieze are the same as in the front of the house. Also, the broken box cornices and the pilasters match those on the original building. I like to think that if Lucinda were to come back for a visit, she would be pleased with what we have done to her home.

Interior

Inside, the house was very 1860 in style. All the doors were two long vertical panels over two short. The doorknobs, except for the front door, are ceramic in black, white, and wood grain. The hinges are the type that when you open the door and lift it up, the hinges separate and the door comes off - no screwdriver needed! When we bought the house, we were lucky that most all the doors were still there, some in the attic or in the basement used as a workbench. The city where I work has houses of that period and I would find similar doors on trash day. Of course, they never came with the other half of the hinge. For a case of beer, I was able to find some full sets in a house that was being gutted. Ceramic doorknobs, I found in an antique store along with extra lock mechanisms.

All the trim, except for the back of one door, had been repainted many times. Because of that door, we know that the pine trim was originally hand finished to imitate the grain of finer woods. In stripping the layers of paint, we couldn't help removing the hand graining also. All interior trim has been repainted in colonial colors.

As it was our desire to take the house back to an earlier period, wainscoting, chair rails and paneling were added as described below.

Kitchen/Dining Area and Pantry

Dining area	Towards kitchen	Kitchen area

The kitchen/dining area in the ell was mostly gutted. With an old ship builder's adz, I hued the beams which were then attached to the ceiling after installing shiplapped pine boards to the old ceiling. To bring in additional light, two picture windows were installed in the south side but made up of small panes rather that one large glass. A skylight is located over the kitchen area to bring in even more light. Wainscoting and chair rails were added and the plaster above painted white. The kitchen cabinets are pine with flush fitting doors and drawers which, although they take more time to do, are more appropriate to the 18th century effect that we were seeking. The counter tops are all solid clear finished maple with molded edges. The fireplace frame (mantle) is from the Freeman farm at Old Sturbridge Village. All the woodwork is painted brick red.

 

Freeman farm at Old Sturbridge Village	Kitchen Fireplace

                

Easy access for storage and food preparation

At Salem Towne House

The pantry walls are all horizontal and vertical feather edged joined boards. For easy access, the counters are open with clear pine shelves. Above the clear maple countertops are more shelves of increasing width towards the top. The shelf and cabinet designs came from the cheese room in the Salem Towne House at Sturbridge Village. The walls and all the vertical counter and shelf supports are painted a mustard color.

When renovating the kitchen and converting the shed into the pantry, we decided we would like to use Saltillo tile on the floor. Saltillo is a hand made tile from the town of Saltillo, Mexico. As I wanted to place the tile in mortar, rather than glue it with mastic, it was necessary to reinforce the floors. After ripping up the old floors, all the rafters were reinforced with 'sister' beams to prevent sagging under the additional weight of a tiled floor laid in cement. Full 1" thick by 12" to 14" wide pine boards were used as a sub floor. 1/4" thick luan plywood was nailed to this sub floor as well as building felt and a special metal screen to adhere the mortar to the floor. The only time I have used plywood in the house is under tile flooring to insure that joints between the floorboards do not telegraph through to the tile.

The result is that these rooms appear far older than they are. The warm color and feeling of being in an earlier period may be what attracts people to the kitchen when we have parties. The addition of the 3' x 3' opening fireplace in the dining area also helps.

 

 

 

Front Sitting Room and Library/Computer Room

Library/computer room	Original gas lamp over desk

In order to create a feeling of openness in the front of the original house, we decided to make a wider archway between these two rooms and close off an unneeded doorway between the latter room and what would become the 1st floor bedroom. As in the kitchen, wainscoting and chair rails were also added and the plaster above painted white with stenciling along the borders and the curtains. I liked the molding around the ceiling in a room of Orchard House in Concord, the home of Louisa May Alcott. I copied that design in these two rooms and, when building the library shelves and cabinets, I incorporated the same design to all the front moldings, rails and styles.

All woodwork except the maple desk/computer table tops was painted yellow. The floors in all of the original house were made of varying width pine boards which were sanded and polyurethaned.

The front section of the original house had two interior chimneys which were for heating the house with wood or coal stoves plus one chimney for a cooking stove in the kitchen ell. The right side chimney became and is still the flue for the basement boiler. We had the unused left chimney lined with a stainless steel flue and I built a brick base and backing for a coal stove in the front room and rebuilt the basement coal bin. For a number of years, we heated the house with coal and still have it available. We believe in having an alternative source of heat and cooking in case the electricity should be out due to a storm. The French Godan stove is capable of keeping the pipes from freezing and the front section at a comfortable temperature.

The doorway to the kitchen from the front room was also widened and two period doors installed in the archway. They are normally left open to increase the feeling of openness.

Towards the road	Front room	Entryway to kitchen

 

Front Bedroom

The first room restored	Wall stenciling	Stenciling detail

The front bedroom started off as the parlor, the first room we restored. As with all later work, we stripped the paint down to the bare wood and painted it an olive green. The walls were painted light yellow and then stenciled with historic designs including a few butterflies enjoying the flowers. There were two closets at the back of the room on either side of the enclosed chimney. The right side closet was enlarged into the addition to become a private bathroom. The walls and ceiling are lined with clear pine and the floor is solid oak.

 

Front Foyer

For some unknown reason, the front hall looked as though it might have been built a century before. Although covered in layers of paint, no changes had been made to the woodwork. It is the only area which is papered.

Newell post

Original stairway to the upper landing

When originally built, the front stairway was the only access to the upstairs bedrooms. Back then, little area was devoted to stairways so the steps had high risers and narrow treads, unsafe by today's standards. We were all happy when the new stairway was completed in the addition. Being so much safer, we stopped using the front stairs. They are, however, part of the house and should never be removed.

The railings and newell posts, both upstairs and down were found to be a hardwood and were clear finished. The spindles and the rest of the woodwork were painted white. When stripping the steps, we found that they originally had a green 'carpet' painted down the middle so we repainted it the way it as it originally had been.

With the refinishing, the front foyer appears very similar to a number of foyers in colonial homes we have entered.

The newell post was copied in building the new rear stairway.

 

 

Right Upstairs Bedroom

Slanted ceilings of Cape Cod Style houses	New door leads to den, the old door to front foyer

This room originally had two closets on either side of the enclosed chimney. Once the addition was added and rear hallway and stairs built, the right hand closet was removed and a doorway added to the new back hall. The original door to the front stairs remains in place but is unused. Except for that, stripping, painting and sanding the floors, no other changes were made. the walls were painted white with a stenciled border. Our son did most of the work in this room.

 

Master Bedroom

Doors lead to den & master bathroom

Towards sleeping area

 

The left upstairs bedroom is shaped like the letter 'L' with the far end the full depth of the original house and the center half narrower to allow for the front stairs and hall. With the sloping roof, the middle section seemed small. Once the addition was added, it was possible to raise the ceiling, add a 'picture window' into the addition and a doorway to the new hall. A private bath extending into the addition added another doorway to that wall. All the woodwork is painted blue, the walls are white with another stencil border. The curtains have the same blue stencil design.

 

 

 

Den

 

With a small wood stove	Backyard view
With skylights	Towards bedrooms

The second floor of the timber frame addition is the only room which we did not finish in the style of an earlier period. Timber frame construction easily lends itself to Scandinavian style with cathedral ceilings. A bay window was installed with a view to the back yard terraces. The ceiling was finished with vertical beveled pine boards clear finished. For the two 'A' shaped end walls, I decided to install the beveled pine boards following the slope of the roof, interlaced in the center and clear finished. The banister, spindles and cherry newell posts around the stairway are also clear finished.

For the floor, I used clear oak which I dried and milled myself. The solid wood varies between 3" and over 9" wide. There are four skylights in the sloping ceilings and two ceiling fans. Because of the modern theme of the room, each of the two middle cross braces has track lighting supplying illumination to all areas of the room. At the top of the stairs, a door opens to the attic above the kitchen ell.

The fireplace structure continues through the second floor next to the attic carrying five flues through the roof. One of the flues is for a small Scandinavian stove which we often use on winter evenings. The whole structure is covered with modern tiles and is finished with brass edging to prevent damage to the corners. A long piece of polished granite was added forming an 8" deep shelf. The right rear of the structure has storage for the firewood. Strong hooks are attached to two of the posts allowing a hammock to be hung.

 

Parlor/Dining Room

Towards the parlor	Floor to ceiling panels & door to cedar closet	Towards the dining room	Copied from the Parsonage

This is the largest room in the house, divided only by a double gunstock post in the middle. We had always liked the right front parlor in the parsonage at Old Sturbridge Village. The room has paneled wainscoting and chair rails below and plaster above on two walls. The other two walls, including the one with the fireplace, have floor to ceiling paneling with all woodwork painted blue.

Copying this woodwork and the timber frame construction has created an 18th century effect in the room. The large cooking fireplace and bake oven, completed a few years later, finished off the room.

All the wainscoting, walls and closet door are paneled using solid pine and are painted a light blue. As in the upstairs den, the floor is the same solid oak of varying widths. The ceiling was not closed in, allowing you to see all the beams including the two summer beams and the upstairs sub floor. The gunstock posts, ceiling beams, pine ceiling, banister, newel post, spindles and treads are clear finished. The banister, newel post, and square spindles duplicate the originals in the front foyer.

 

In summary, the exterior of the Lucinda Manning house was found to be in Greek Revival style and we have tried to continue that theme in the new construction. Except for the den, we went back to the 18th century as we restored (and in one case made) each room.

 

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