A family makes yarn in the front yard.

I have had the privilege of restoring, and working the materials from, a lot of very old houses over the years that I have been in this unique building trade. I can’t help but reflect on the craftsmanship and beauty of these old structures as I work on them, but I also make an effort to reflect on the lives that must have been lived in them as well. The stories these old homes could tell, if only they could talk.

I wonder… what this woman is thinking as she sits here on this threshold.

And, I wonder what momma has in that big pan on her lap?

Originally posted 2015-09-04 17:44:47.

Another colonial Williamsburg outbuilding…

This would be a great starter home, cute, well built, and any debt created would be easy to pay off, then save enough money to expand the home as one can afford it. Forget the banks!

Think small, think quality, think debt free!

I once had an architect point out to me that the tops of the windows should always be at the same height as the top of the doors. Hmmm… this house got away with breaking that rule don’t you think?

This is the boot and shoemaker shop at Colonial Williamsburg. Who wouldn’t want to report to work in such a nice building with a large window to keep an eye on what is going on outside?

Notice that it has one dormer window. Just one. This is not the only building in CW with a single dormer.

I struggled with this single dormer look for a while… I think we are somehow trained to view dormers as objects that come in sets… and not as “stand-alones”.

Originally posted 2015-09-01 13:29:52.

This is Hartwell Perrys kitchen in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

You know, it’s a funny thing, but I can go into any subdivision and my eye immediately begins to focus on all the design errors made on modern cookie cutter homes.

And then, I go to a place like this and I am just stunned at the design perfection.

Why just look at those dormers!

And here is the kitchen that is out back of the James Anderson House.

Just look at that massive chimney!  Clearly there is a massive cooking fireplace to be found within.

I’m impressed not only with details found on this structure, and the overall attractiveness of the ktichen, but also how it is a totally different design from the kitchen found on the Hartwell Perry house kitchen. It seems that it mattered greatly then that everyone strove for beauty and uniqueness, even in their outbuildings.

How did we lose that?

From a builders perspective I can say it does not take that much more effort to build an attractive structure than an ugly one… it’s just a matter of how the lumber and masonry pieces are arranged when put together.

Originally posted 2015-08-31 13:45:08.

Here’s a photo of George Washington’s kitchen… not a lot of cabinet and counter-top space is there?

I bet there are over a hundred places in this country that claim that “George Washington slept here”.  The one place that we can be most certain is his home, Mt Vernon, and in his own bed there…

Originally posted 2015-08-31 12:54:50.

This is the Mary Stith House, located in Colonial Willamsburg, Virginia.

What a gorgeous building.

“Mary Stith lived to see independence and the establishment of the Republic. She wrote her will in 1813. Among its beneficiaries were her African American servants, to whom she left her shop. Her will shows her depth of feeling for them:

“All the coloured people in my family being born my slaves, but now liberated, I think it my duty not to leave them destitute nor to leave them unrecompensed for past services rendered to me. As in the cause of humanity I can do but little for so many, and that little my conscience requires me to do, therefore I subject the whole of my estate to the payment of my just debts, and to the provision which I herein make for them.”

With the exception of few small legacies to white friends, Stith left most of her considerable estate, including three buildings and the ground on which they stood, to her freedmen.”

Learn more about her at…

http://www.history.org/almanack/places/hb/hbstith.cfm

Originally posted 2015-08-29 15:12:19.

For those who appreciate the “bones” of an old house here’s one for you… the roof system of an old estate home in England.

Most people have little interest in those parts of a home that aren’t seen after a house is completed, which is one of the reasons that homes are built so poorly these days and with materials that are more glue than they are wood.

Originally posted 2015-08-29 13:47:36.

I suppose you could call this a “boathouse”.

A boat is certainly designed to keep the water out so why not make use of a boat to protect yourself from water coming from above?

Originally posted 2015-08-28 18:05:37.

I do love a thatched roof… there is something about a roof that is all natural that I find very comforting.

Originally posted 2015-08-28 17:38:34.

Cruck frames, common in England, make use of naturally curved timbers.

A cruck frame is incredibly strong, and visually striking.

Originally posted 2015-08-26 12:21:01.

Here’s a diagram of an early New England home… I love it. Who wouldn’t feel at home is such a place!

You can tell it’s a New England home because…

1) I’ve never seen a diagram of southern timber frame home… sad isn’t it? What’s up with that?
2) The horizontal members between the rafters, known as “purlins”, were not used in the Mid-Atlantic and further south… roof systems were rafters only.
3) The roof sheathing, those boards between the roof rafters and the shingles, would run horizontally not vertically.
4) The corner angle bracing in this diagram goes up to the top plate. Here in Virginia and the surrounding states it goes down to the sill timber.

Clearly both methods are attractive, and both have held up homes for centuries… so the difference is more about “regional flavor” rather than right or wrong.

Originally posted 2015-08-25 17:58:10.