Remodeled Farmhouses Part 5

The ell of the house, opening from the dining-room, is devoted to butler's pantry, kitchen, servants' dining-room, and servants' chambers on the second floor.

The upper story of the main part of the house has been kept almost as when it was built, and the large square chambers are well-lighted and airy. The open fireplaces and the Colonial furniture, four-posters and highboys and chests, give to the rooms a delightfully old-fas.h.i.+oned atmosphere.

The whole house is a fine example of late Georgian architecture, preserved in all its interesting detail.

CHAPTER VIII

THREE ACRES

Few people realize how much thought should be put into the remodeling of a farmhouse, and many fail to keep the simple country atmosphere; they endeavor to establish in suburban surroundings a home that is better suited to city life. A house reclaimed in this way is necessarily a misfit and must always seem inharmonious in its setting. It never carries out the idea for which we are striving: that a house should be typical of the life of the people who live in it. It should express individuality, be a house to live in, to grow in, to become identified with your life; this is a most important fact that cannot be too carefully observed, and it becomes all the more essential if the home is to be an all-the-year-round one and not merely a summer residence where but a few months are pa.s.sed.

To-day it is a far more difficult matter to select an old farmhouse of sufficient distinction to remodel than it was even ten years ago. The most desirable ones have already been bought, since the pleasures of living in the country have been realized by so many former dwellers in the city. There are many personal matters to be thought of in the selection of a house for remodeling; one must consider his individual needs in its relation to his daily pursuits. The business man must select a house near enough to the city to allow traveling back and forth every day; but the man whose occupation does not require city life during the time he wishes to be in the country can establish himself wherever he chooses. There is no doubt that the latter is able to find a far better farmhouse, for he can go farther away, where the best types have not been reclaimed, owing to their distances from the large cities.

It is to be taken for granted that a person has a definite purpose when he leaves the city for a country existence, and it is necessary that he educate himself to the point where he makes his ideas practical. This cannot be done without study beforehand. In making a house suit individual requirements, one must follow along its own lines. Do not attempt to transplant into it features from some other house you admire.

An Elizabethan gable or a craftsman living-room may have been very interesting in the friends' houses in which you saw them, but they would be quite out of place thrust into a Colonial farmhouse. If you have a real need for the features that you find in some other house, you should adapt them to the spirit of the building you are remodeling.

If it cannot be made to harmonize with the other motives, it is possible that you are attempting to make a home out of a building that is not suited to your style of life. But it is because these Colonial farmhouses meet the requirements of the average American families so adequately that they are so interesting to remodel. Each house owner must decide for himself what is the main element in his existence and reclaim the house accordingly. In one family, the interests will be entirely domestic; another household will live in the open, occupied with sports; another devotes much time to music; and there are still others who are absorbed in some special craft or work that will require definite accommodations. In many cases the house can readily be adapted to these particular requirements without any essential change in its atmosphere. The success that is achieved by working with these old-time elements is due to their sincerity and honesty in solving the problems of their own day and age; they are the results of actual and real experience, and we know no better ways to meet the same conditions. So that when we have the same problems confronting us, we cannot do better than accept the successful results of others' experiments.

This does not mean a slavish copying of the old in restoration; to simply imitate old elements would be neither interesting nor commendable, except for the purposes of a museum. Each style is based upon some fundamental principle, and it should be our aim to work with the underlying idea of creating that which will best meet our special needs, not merely to reproduce the old in imitation of itself.

Nature lends itself to the remodeling and suggests many ideas that help to identify the house with the personality of its owner. Everything attempted in the way of improvements can be broad and expansive and not congested, as would be necessary in the city. You should in every particular make the house grow to fit the surroundings and do it in such a way that it will seem to have been so always. Often the house has to be moved on its foundations to meet this need, but that is not a difficult matter to accomplish, if the timbers are stanch and the underpinning steady.

If the owner's ideas are carried out, the house in its finished condition will be but an expression of his taste and understanding. In it we will be able to read his likes and dislikes. Unity should be the keynote of it all and should permeate not only the house itself in all its details, but its gardens, lawns, stables, and every aspect of the estate.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THREE ACRES, FROM THE MAIN ROAD]

There is a house that has been given rare individuality in this way at Duxbury, Ma.s.sachusetts. As one drives along the picturesque country road, he comes to a winding lane that leads by graceful turns to a little brown farmhouse situated on the crest of a hill about three hundred yards from the main road. If the farmhouse alone is attractive, how much more so is it made by the entrance, for on either side are graceful elms that form an archway, disclosing the house beyond like a picture set in a rustic frame. On either side of the roadway one finds meadow lands and flower and vegetable gardens, everywhere dotted with graceful trees and the picturesque sumach. Vines clamber over the stone walls, partly hiding their roughness and giving their homelike atmosphere to the grounds. There are just three acres in this little property, bounded on two sides by delightful woodlands and on the others by rolling farmland and pastures; but there is room in even these small confines for a garden to supply the table all the year round and a bit of orchard where the gnarled old apple-trees are still fruitful.

Originally the old farmhouse was in a most unprepossessing condition. It had been inhabited for many years by farmer folk who took little pains with its appearance either without or within. When Mrs. Josephine Hartwell Shaw, of Boston, was searching for a country seat where she could pursue her occupation away from the bustle of city life and unmolested by chance guests, she was attracted first of all to the quiet little town by the name of Duxbury. As she looked about for a suitable house, she was charmed with the location of this weather-beaten old building, and closer examination proved it well worth reclaiming, both from an artist's point of view and from that of her own individual requirements.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THREE ACRES--FRONT VIEW]

Like many of the farmhouses in eastern Ma.s.sachusetts, it had that peculiar beauty which consisted largely in its simple and straightforward solution of the problems at hand. It was not the creation of a master architect but of ordinary builders and craftsmen following the traditions of their fathers, varied by the restrictions of local material and newer requirements. It is this rugged and st.u.r.dy simplicity that gives to it an enduring charm; it was the very lack of a set style that gave to the remodeling of it an unfailing zest, increased by the very difficulty of the experiment that might result in a woeful failure or a great success. In dealing with houses such as this, it is impossible for the architect to rely on any formula or book of rules to direct him in a correct restoration. It requires a much deeper study and an understanding of the problems that confronted the builder in erecting the structure and the conditions under which he worked. It is then that the spirit of the old house will be manifest, and its adaptation to modern requirements will be but the thought of former years revised to meet present needs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THREE ACRES--SIDE VIEW]

There are few buildings that can claim a more sympathetic handling in their restoration than this early, pre-Georgian farmhouse, which is called Three Acres. The excellent line of the wide, gabled roof, broken by a succession of outbuildings, forms an unusually attractive picture, with the weather-stained s.h.i.+ngles softened against a background of oak and pine trees. The house now faces away from the main road and fronts upon a wooded slope that falls sharply down to the sh.o.r.es of a picturesque little pond. This is partly hidden by dense woods that form a background and a windbreak for the house. Formerly the public road went along here within a few yards of the front of the house, but it has been abandoned for the broader highway in the rear, and only the vaguest traces of it remain to-day.

The building was a two-story, s.h.i.+ngled 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 s.p.a.ce to open the door. This was remedied by the addition of a small, flat-roofed bay at the front, increasing the s.p.a.ce 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 gla.s.s 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 cas.e.m.e.nt 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 sc.r.a.ping 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 cas.e.m.e.nt 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 furnis.h.i.+ngs all harmonize.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Living Room]

In the living-room the fireplace holds the center of attention. It is faced with queer old Spanish tiles inserted at intervals in plain cement, the rich colorings of which give a quaintly exotic air to the fine white woodwork. The moldings about the frame and over the mantel are unusually fine for this type of house; the support of the heavy mantel shelf and the carved dentils in the ceiling cornice are especially interesting. At the right of the fireplace is a cupboard with an upper and lower door, in the old-time fas.h.i.+on; the upper one has small, square, mullioned panes of gla.s.s which disclose some attractive pieces of old china and silver.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Dining Room]

In the kitchen, which was turned into the dining-room, the old fireplace had been bricked up to receive a stovepipe, and the woodwork had been plastered over and papered. The fireplace was opened up to its original size, large enough to accommodate a six-foot log, and in refacing it, the old, blackened, fire-burned bricks were used with delightful effect.

The paneling about it is very simple, but the proportions are interesting, and the quaint, double-panel cupboards on each side lend the whole an insistent charm. The two, great, hand-hewn beams in the ceiling have been left exposed, and the fact that they have settled a little on their supports, sagging toward one end, only adds to the effect, just as the unevenness of a hand-drawn line is more beautiful than the accuracy of one ruled.

These three rooms opening so closely into each other have been treated so that there is a harmonious and striking vista from every point. The walls are covered with a soft, creamy gray, and the hangings of Russian crash are of the same tone. The color is supplied in fireplaces, rugs, books, pictures, and such ornaments. In the dining-room, there has been a slight accent of blue and rose in rug and table runner and candle-shades. In the living-room the deep green of the upholstery carries the strongest note. The characteristically old-time furniture, with a pleasant mingling of Dutch and English and American motifs of the eighteenth century, has been arranged with studied care to preserve the possibilities of the open vistas from room to room.

The entrance hall completes a delightful picture from the living-room; the soft gray colors of a lovely j.a.panese paper blend strikingly with tiny curtains of a wonderfully fresh old blue at the cas.e.m.e.nt windows.

The rag carpet carries this same blue up the white stairs to the second floor.

The rooms on the right of the lower hallway have been kept nearly in their original state with the addition of fresh paint and attractive papers. They form a small suite of a study and bedroom, seeming quite apart from the rest of the house.

On the second floor, a refres.h.i.+ng simplicity has been observed in the bedrooms. The dormers that have been cut in the roof add not only to their comfort but provide charming little bays and alcoves, giving unexpected opportunities for interesting furnis.h.i.+ngs. Quaint, old-time papers and hangings and coverlets on the four-poster beds, matched in rugs and cus.h.i.+ons and candle-shades, contrast gaily with the spotless white paint. Considerable ingenuity has been necessary in planning this floor, as the original rooms were so tiny and s.p.a.ce so very limited under the long slopes of the roof. The dormers gave the much needed increase in the size of the chambers, and part of the rear one was converted into the bathroom.

In the ell and shed at the rear of the house, perhaps the most interesting feature of all is situated. A step lower than the dining-room and reached through swinging French doors of gla.s.s, is the little kitchen which has been fitted up in a most compact way. An additional window has been cut at the side to provide both light and air, and an outside door gives access to the small court on the far side of the house between the main building and the rear shed. This has been turned into a miniature old-fas.h.i.+oned garden, where it is pleasant to sit among the flowers.

Back of the kitchen is the laundry and an old well, which has been drained and is now used as a cooling cellar, and the wire basket containing meats and milk and b.u.t.ter is drawn up and down on the old crank. Beyond this, the old wood and coal shed has been transformed into the studio. Here Mrs. Shaw designs all her beautiful jewelry work at the long work-table across the rear under the four long windows. Opening from it is a tiny little apartment used as an office, and here at a quaint desk, the designs for the metal work are sketched out, and the correspondence connected with the business end transacted.

In the adaptation of the outbuildings to the special and unusual requirements of the owner, an excellent example is given to others who have individual hobbies such as this to accommodate. But throughout the building the needs and the personality of the owner have been as carefully if not as ostensibly expressed. There has been no thought of comfort or of service sacrificed in the effort to revive the atmosphere of the past, but rather has that very simplicity and straight-forwardness been utilized to banish all that might complicate entire convenience. The personality of the owner has been interwoven into every detail, and shows nowhere more strongly than in the preservation of all the delightful vagaries and unevenness of hand work played upon and mellowed by time.

CHAPTER IX

THE ROBERT SPENCER HOUSE

The prospective house owner generally has little or no idea of how to go about designing his own home. If he chances to see some other house that strikes his fancy, he realizes that it approaches, at least in part, what he has in mind. How to accomplish his desire, however, he has no definite knowledge. He hesitates to call in an architect who is a stranger to him and knows nothing of his needs and habits and preferences; he fears that an attempt to combine his own ideas with those of the architect will result unsatisfactorily to both of them. To such a man as this, the remodeled farmhouse comes as a boon. From the old house he is able to determine what type his home will be; no matter how battered and worn it is to start with, he can get some impression of the possible room s.p.a.ce and arrangement by studying other old interiors and their relation to each other. That is one of the reasons why the movement sweeping through the country to-day has become so extensive.

It gives a substantial foundation upon which to develop an artistic home under one's own supervision.

When a man purchases a weather-beaten farmhouse, it is evident that he is up against a real problem in remodeling, and the task demands plenty of time and a wide-awake, ingenious brain. If he consults his friends and neighbors across the way, doubtless their opinions differ so materially from his own that the result is worse than if he had solved the questions in his own way. We all have ideals, but it is not always easy to express them; they need to be developed in order to be made practical and require thought and diligent research if they are to be concretely embodied in the altered home. Paper and pencil are good friends at this stage of the game, and even a rough sketch drawn carelessly on the back of an old envelope, as an idea occurs, gives subject matter for larger schemes and more realistic results.

Few people who are planning to spend the summer months in a new house realize how much their comfort depends upon light and s.p.a.ce. It would be foolish for you to buy an old farmhouse and make the rooms small and cramped in size. You would lose a great part of the advantage of coming to the country to live, the pleasure of being as nearly out of doors as possible. Most of the old houses were cut up into small rooms, for, owing to the limited heating facilities in olden days, large rooms would have been freezing in winter; accordingly one or two bedrooms were invariably crowded into the first floor to receive the warmth from the kitchen. But it is almost always possible to tear out the part.i.tions between some of the rooms and make them into one large apartment which can be used for living purposes. This can usually be done without weakening the structure; the floor above will be found to rest upon a great beam, or a new girder can be put across.

If the stud is low, do not change it, or you will spoil the whole atmosphere of the place. A low stud and large rooms are good developments, so try to achieve them when you are making over the house.