Two hundred and ten years ago, in the fall of 1797, Dr. Stephen Allen saw his house being raised up onto the granite slabs that had been transported by horse and sled from the nearby Stepping Stone quary. It was a typical farmhouse with a central chimney that contained three fireplaces: one for the Keeping room, another for the Parlor and the third for the master Bedroom, with its attached "borning room". If one looks closely at the beams, made of hardwood such as hickory, in the upstairs rooms, one can see that the connecting beams have roman numerals etched within - e.g., VI on cross beam and VI on supporting roof beam. Each of the beams of the home were either hand-hewed or cut from the up-and-down saw and were marked and placed on the group in the order with which they would be joined, again using roman numerals.
Then several men from the neighboring farms came to assist in "raising" the four walls and connecting them with "wooden pegs". Then the beams for the "roof" were joined to the upright walls, again with wooden pegs, sharpened to a point with an axe. Finally, planks of pine or cedar or oak were nailed to the roof beams, and to the walls. The three-foot wide by three inch thick planks were nailed at an angle on the wall beams for secure construction.
The inside walls were made of "slats" covered with plaster containing "horse-hairs" for solidity. There were slots cut out of these wide planks for twelve-over-twelve windows; some of the panes had bubbles. The two outside doors were made of solid hickory and hung with long metal strap hinges on pintels. The side door on the east side and opening into the Keeping room was called the "Funeral door" because it was through this door that the coffin was brought in and out of the keeping room for a wake. There was not enough room from the Front door because the stairs to go up were built on the south side of the center chimney and close to that front door.
The "borning room" was a small room adjacent, through a door, to the master bedroom. It was in this room that the babies were born and the dying died. It was heated from the master bedroom which had its own fireplace made from the same granite as the foundation walls.
The Keeping Room served as kitchen and dining room - the meals being prepared in the 5x5' fireplace, with an oven and ash pit to the right. Above the oven, in the parlor next to the keeping room, was a warming oven. There were two storage closets adjacent to the parlor with doors facing into the keeping room.
On the second floor there was a large open area with a simple staircase leading to the walk-in attic. There were also two small bedrooms to the left of the central chimney. Entrance to the back bedroom was through the first little room. If no none occupied the back bedroom, it was used to hang meat as this room had no heat. None of the rooms upstairs had fireplaces. It is believed that these rooms were primarily used by Dr. Allen's servants - either black or native american.
There was a full cellar for storage of vegetables for winter use. The three fireplaces were based on a huge four-walled foundation in the cellar. In the center of the cellar stood the four-walled granite foundation for the three fireplaces. There was a small door that led to the outside.
In 1825, an ell was added to the east side of the home. The "funeral door" now led into the Kitchen. A sink with its own hand-pump for water was built. The front door of the main part of the house was replaced with a victorian style door with two narrow windows on ech side. The original front door now became the back door of the kitchen. Below the kitchen, an additional cellar was used for storage. The opening to the outside had two doors: a small one for use by the family members, and a larger one to be used to bring in a horse to be shod at the "forge" that now was constructed in this newly-built cellar, with its own chimney that went through the kitchen and out through its roof.
The Stephen Allen house remained in this 1825 renovation until it was remodeled for my family in 1972. The original design and structure remained the same. However, base-board heating , a bathroom and a lavette were added; the well and its pump were upgraded; new windows replaced the windows which had replaced the original 12 over 12 during the 1825 renovation. The house was renovated as a year-round home. The people - the Tomlins - who owned it before our family moved in used it only as a summer home. It was placed on the Register of Historic Home in 1978.
If you wish to see a more complete history and description of the historic home, click on this link:
