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Remodeled Farmhouses

<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> <h3>THE WALTER SCOTT HOPKINS HOUSE</h3> When you plan to remodel your house, there is nothing that should receive much more careful attention than the closets. It is doubtful, that is, if the house is of the earliest period, if you will find many. Our emigrant ancestors did not have as many clothes or table appointments as we require to-day. The few of the former they possessed were hung on pegs or disposed of in chests; the dishes were placed on racks, thus eliminating the necessity for closet room in houses where every available bit of space was utilized for living purposes. In all probability you will find corner cupboards which will be more or less elaborate in design. The best examples show a shell treatment. The earliest corner cupboards were clumsy affairs, being movable; later on they were built into the house and employed to hold family china and glassware. There was a great variety in these closets, some being fitted up with shelves only, while others were divided in two, the underneath part being used for books and odds and ends. Fortunate is the house owner who finds in his old house one or more of these old corner cupboards. To be sure they can be reproduced; but how much better are the originals. Dig out the old plaster, rip open the sides of the partitions, if you think there is any chance of odd closets being hidden away between, and remember that in many old houses there are secret closets, and it will pay you to tap the wall space to discover their whereabouts. Sometimes they are hidden under the flooring, and again the space between the windows is used for this purpose. It is always well to open them, for who knows what valuable heirlooms may be hidden inside. There are plenty of spaces where new closets can be introduced as, for instance, the end of the dining-room, where a glassed-in china closet with an arched top and half-domed interior makes an excellent place to display the old china and glass. Panels in the wainscot can be utilized, more especially when they are under the first step of the staircase. These are most convenient for filing newspapers or any magazines that are kept for reference. If the hallway is paneled, it is a very easy matter to put an invisible door into one of the panels. This can be used for the coat closet, with a low shelf underneath to hold hats; and on the floor partitions can be made to hold rubbers. On each side of the chimney a great deal of waste space can be converted into bookcases, with little, leaded, glass doors. Above the mantel, set in the chimney-breast, will be found spaces which even in the early days were devoted to closets. They are cut in a panel and were used to protect china or old pewter from the dust. Sometimes three of these closets have been found built into the fireplaces, all of which were used to hold the household china. In the upper part of the house, under the attic stairs, can generally be found places that can be made into linen closets, but it must be remembered that if no ventilation is allowed, cloth will become yellowed, so by all means have brass ventilators in the doors. Whatever the purpose of the closet, its location should be carefully considered,—the shape, the place, and the cost,—so that as many as possible can be introduced. There is no doubt that the majority of old-time farmhouses readily adapt themselves to modern requirements and show possibilities that allow of most attractive development. The result of working out certain possibilities is shown in the Walter Scott Hopkins house at Reading, Massachusetts. It is a long, rambling house that seemed when first purchased wholly lacking in artistic qualities, and it was not until after careful deliberation that the owner realized that the old farmhouse, beneath its coating of accumulated dust, possessed a wealth of fine features that were well worth developing. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/ill_124.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="402" alt="Before Remodeling" title="" /> Before Remodeling</div> The house had been used for two families, and each section was separate and distinct, although under the same roof. It was built in the latter part of the eighteenth century and contains fine woodwork,—better than that found in most houses of that day. All the distinctive features of the Colonial architecture were evident in this old farmhouse, where unbroken roof-line, close-cropped eaves, and small-paned windows were placed with mathematical precision, and the severely simple exterior was in strict conformity with the period. In remodeling the house, the original outlines were carefully preserved, and the additions were made to conform. The small, ugly entrances which had marred the exterior of the house were torn down and replaced by windows, so that only a single entrance was left. A very attractive porch with sloping roof-line was supported by solid but unornamented columns. In the roof dormer windows were cut, both at the front and rear. This was to make the attic practical for living purposes by affording sufficient light and air. At one side of the house, in place of the woodshed, an out-of-door living-room was added, broad and low of build, with a sloping roof that harmonized in outline with the main roof. At the rear a small addition of the deep, bay-window type was added; this was to secure extra space for the newly arranged dining-room and the remodeled kitchen. Two small porches were built in addition to the new trellised entrance, giving a simple dignity to the old house, which has been painted white with green blinds. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/ill_125.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="402" alt="As Remodeled" title="" /> As Remodeled</div> The grounds, rough and unkempt, with a stone wall defining a part of them, were beautified to afford a fitting environment for the new home, and to-day smooth sweeps of lawn and judicious groupings of shrubbery add in no small degree to the exterior attractiveness of the old homestead. A path of rough, irregular flagstones leads to the main entrance, and a similar path winds from the street to a gateway in the outlying wall and opens into a charming garden plot that has been laid out just beyond the outdoor living-room. Planting has been judiciously carried out, and the estate has been brought to a fine state of cultivation, with the result that it has become an attractive setting for the remodeled house, which stands on the slope of a hill. The interior required a great deal of altering, including much tearing down of partitions to suit present-day needs and to make broad, spacious rooms out of the tiny spaces which sufficed a century or more ago. There was installation of plumbing, lighting and heating devices, in order to meet the demands of modern life, and the New England attic was made over into servants' quarters that were sufficiently ample for a large country house. A leaded glass door that shows fanlight above opens into a broad, low-ceilinged hall. At one side is a large fireplace, and a heavy beam crosses the ceiling. To the right is the new dining-room, to the left the living-room, and from the end of the hall opens the den, a passageway connecting this with the servants' department. In all the rooms every detail of the old-fashioned construction has been retained. The fine woodwork shows the original paneling; the great fireplaces with their chimney closets have been preserved intact, and even the old, hand-made hardware has been retained for present-day use. Cupboards were discovered, when the coating of plaster and paper were removed, and are serving the same purpose in the twentieth-century home that they did years ago in the Colonial one; and the new cupboards that have been added seem to fit in as if they had always been there. The house in its entirety shows many points that are of unusual interest. The arrangement of the windows is particularly good, as are the chimneys, while the sweeping roof-line at the rear carries out the old contour and yet has been slightly changed to afford light and air to chambers inside. The semblance of the original farmhouse has been left unaltered, while the really radical changes have been tempered with a regard for the preservation of the old-time atmosphere. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/ill_126.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="424" alt="The Living Room" title="" /> The Living Room</div> The living-room shows a typical old farmhouse room. The woodwork here is particularly good; there is a wainscot three feet high that comes above the lower sill of the window frame, and which is paneled in doors and over the mantel. The fireplace has remained unchanged, being a Colonial one of huge size. The early period is evidenced in the absence of a mantel, which brings out the lines of the wonderful old woodwork to the greatest advantage. The andirons, instead of following the sixteenth or seventeenth-century type, represent griffins. A nightcap closet, introduced in the middle panel over the fireplace, shows the original H hinges of iron. When the house was first purchased, these were hidden away, and only when the original woodwork was reached were they discovered, restored, treated to a coat of white paint, and adapted to present use. This is a feature that is rarely found in the remodeled farmhouse of to-day. The walls are hung with a one-toned paper of soft coloring, while plain muslin curtains shade the windows. The old floor was re-laid with narrow boards over which are laid Daghestan rugs; Mission furniture is used. The lighting fixtures are of the Colonial type and placed at the sides only. The room contains many well-placed windows which give to it light and air. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/ill_127.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="439" alt="" title="" /></div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/ill_128.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="445" alt="Two Views of the Dining Room" title="" /> Two Views of the Dining Room</div> The dining-room is at the rear of the living-room and opens into it, being connected with a wide opening so that, if need be, the rooms can be used as one, giving plenty of space for large dinner parties. Here the woodwork has been restored to its original charming simplicity and painted white to match that of the living-room. The walls have been covered with a dark-toned paper, and at one end, opposite the living-room, an alcoved recess has been added in order that its group of windows may give better lighting to the dining-room which is exposed to the outside on two sides only. The floors of this room, too, have been re-laid and handsomely polished, and are an effective foil to the domestic rug which is used. Here, also, the furniture follows the Mission style, in order to be in keeping with that of the living-room. The lighting fixtures are of the same type found in the adjoining room and are also side lights, considered more effective because softer than a ceiling light. In order to let the light in from the hallway, windows were inserted which follow the early window casing in their plain style and contain small panes, there being no elaboration. They are placed on either side of the entrance door, which is glassed in the upper portion. Here, as all through the house, the early style of small-paned windows has been retained. There are many reasons why these are advantageous: not only do they follow the period in which the house was built, carrying out details correctly, but when broken they are more easily replaced, though much harder to keep clean. These windows are usually placed near the ceiling, being designed for light and ornamentation, rather than as outlooks. The ornamental design which has been carried out in the arrangement of windows and door is unusual even in Colonial houses, where the low stud and the beamed ceiling helped much towards effectiveness. This room was originally the kitchen and bedroom combined. The old fireplace has been preserved, as has the brick oven, and over it is a series of small closets such as are rarely found. There is a central closet and a smaller one on either side. Here the H hinges have been retained and also the old-time latches. On the opposite side of the hall is the parlor, which corresponds in size to the living-room and shows equally fine woodwork. This was originally the parlor in the farther side of the double house and has been left practically its original shape and size, for in this part of the house very little remodeling has been done. The old fireplace has been retained at the farther end of the room. At the rear of this, what was once the sitting-room has been converted into an office. Beyond this room, the original kitchen on that side of the house and the shed have been thrown into a most attractive summer room. In the story above there were formerly two large bedrooms on either side. These remain practically as they were and are furnished with Colonial pieces. The old attic, which originally was used for clutter, is now remodeled into servants' quarters and by the addition of the dormer windows has been made into comfortable rooms which can be kept cool during the warm weather by the cross draughts. The architects were very wise in remodeling this house so as to show its extremely simple lines, for they give it individuality and character and accentuate certain features that were necessary to create of it a home for one family. There is no doubt that the alterations have been planned and executed with rare taste and discrimination. <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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