Remodeled Farmhouses. Mary Harrod Northend
their condition. A little attention given to these points will determine whether it is worth while to attempt remodeling, or whether the expense involved would be out of all proportion to the result.
Scarcely less vital is the condition of the cellar. Is there dampness, caused by lack of ventilation, by bad walls, or by some inherent moisture? Some of these old houses have a well in the cellar; this should be drained off and filled up. But if there is an actual spring of water, as not infrequently occurs, either move the house or abandon it. Bad walls can be cemented and waterproofed. If the trouble comes from lack of light and air, it may be possible to cut larger window openings. Most old houses were set too low, however, and it is frequently an advantage to raise them. This requires sound underpinning, or the expense will be great.
While considering the subject of dampness, it is well to examine the roof and see how much it leaks under the moss-grown shingles. If it is an old house that is in tolerably good repair at the present time, it may be that under some previous owner the roof fell into decay, and rains soaked through. Look for signs of this, for it will mean weakness in timbers and plaster that must be guarded against. Examine the boards of the roof to see if they are strong enough to permit the laying of new shingles.
The chimney is another important matter to investigate. In old houses which have not been used for some time, the bricks often deteriorate and become so soft that they crumble at the touch. This would necessitate the not inconsiderable expense of rebuilding the whole chimney, unless it is so large that a second smaller one may be inserted within the old. With the huge fireplaces of other days, whose yawning mouths were often capable of holding a ten-foot log, a metal flue is frequently used in the remodeling. It is surrounded on the outside, between itself and the old chimney, with concrete, which renders it entirely safe from danger of fire.
A glance should be given also, in this inspection, at the condition of the floors. If they are not level, it indicates defects in the timbers underneath. The boards themselves are often so rough and laid with such large cracks that it will be necessary to lay new floors. Notice, too, the condition of doors and windows; whether they are straight and true enough to be used again, or if others will have to replace them. Tap the plaster here and there to see where it is loose and to what extent it must be renewed.
These are the tests that indicate whether the old house is worth buying and what will be the essential expense to make it habitable. Sometimes one or another defect is so severe as to make the venture foolish; again it can be remedied by resort to strenuous methods. Not infrequently the drawbacks of a bad cellar and a poor location are at once overcome by removing the house altogether to a new site. This is practicable when the building is sound in structure and an inexpensive operation if it is small.
That was the proceeding which Miss Mabel L. Kittredge undertook with an old fisherman's cottage that had stood for many years on the shores of Cape Cod. It was a simple little building, dilapidated and weather-beaten, and quite unsuggestive of a summer home. But its very quaintness and diminutive size attracted her attention, and she determined to investigate it. The owner was willing to part with it, just as it stood, for eighty-five dollars, not including the land.
The location was not desirable, and it was decided to "fleck" the house, as is the colloquial term on the Cape for preparing a building to be moved. It was taken apart and floated across the water to its new foundations in South Yarmouth. Here it was "unflecked" and set up facing the harbor and the cool breezes from the ocean.
The original building, erected in the early part of the nineteenth century, was a small, shingled structure, thirty by twenty feet, with a straight gable roof rising from the low stud of the first story. Its proportions were not at all unpleasing, and the placing of the several small-paned windows was particularly agreeable. There was a kitchen shed attached to the rear.
When it was set in position in the new location, additional windows were cut, a small porch built at the front entrance, and a second shed attached at right angles to the kitchen wing. In the second story, a broad flat-roofed dormer with three windows increased the interior space, without seriously altering the straight lines of the roof. The effort to retain the original simplicity of line is also evident in the porch roof, which follows closely the wide angle of the gable ends of the house.
The original interior was cut up into a number of small rooms, the partitions of which were removed, with the exception of those dividing off a bedroom at the rear. This left one good-sized apartment, which was fitted up for living and dining-room combined and made a most delightful place. The stairs were built at the left, along the rear wall. A group of three windows was cut here to give extra light and air, and the manner in which they have been handled is interesting. On account of the position of a heavy supporting beam, it was impossible to make these new windows the height of the original ones. The effect of this was ameliorated by placing a shelf directly above the group of three and extending it across the wall to meet the old window. A number of interesting pieces of china placed on the shelf give it a character and weight which thus carries the eye along from one opening to the other without any consciousness of the break in height. This is but one of those ingenious methods by which remodeling is made successful.
The large, old-fashioned fireplace is the center of interest in this room. At the right of it is a china closet with mullioned glass door, and on the left two narrower closets are found in the paneling. A new hardwood floor had to be laid, as the original one was in bad condition. The wainscot and woodwork throughout the house was unusually good for such a small and unpretentious structure. After the former layers of paint had been removed and the wood thoroughly cleaned, it was finished in white. The walls, scraped down to the original plaster, were painted in a soft green flat-coat that was delightfully fresh and cool.
Back of this large room was a small hallway leading into the ell at the back. At the left, space was taken for a bathroom.
The kitchen was kept practically the same as in the old house. The rough stud and rafters were stained a dark brown, and the boards of the roof whitewashed. The walls were plastered to the height of the stud. A modern stove was attached to the old chimney flue on the outside of the building. The exposed uprights provided an opportunity for convenient shelves to be built for the various kitchen appliances.
Up-stairs the entire floor was thrown into one room, instead of making several small, stuffy, sleeping apartments. The dormer which was cut in the front added not only to the light, air, and space of the room, but gave an opportunity for a most attractive window-seat to be built beneath the broad windows. The old, wide boards of the floor were in good condition and kept intact. The walls were plastered to the ridge, exposing the heavy tie-beams. Along the walls under the eaves, sets of drawers were built into the woodwork, thus obviating the necessity of having chiffoniers or chests of drawers to consume already limited space. The rough bricks of the chimney, which breaks slantingly through the floor near the center of the room, are not concealed. Instead, they form a rather decorative feature in the little apartment, and about the four sides of the flue shelves are built which serve as a dressing-table and a desk.
The furnishings of the whole house are delightfully simple and suggestive of the quaint Colonial period when it was built. Tables and chairs, pictures, mirrors, and china are interesting heirlooms that have been handed down in the family of the owner and preserve the spirit of the little cottage as admirably as do the various alterations which have made it so modern and habitable.