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Kitchen
Without a doubt, the kitchen was the
scariest room in the house. We're told that Charlie Barton
closed off the house and lived exclusively in the kitchen. He
had a bed set up along the north wall and used a hose for
water during the warmer months and the outhouse year 'round.
There was a stove for heat where he burned fence posts and
whatever was available. Flames frequently blackened the
ceiling and we found burned wall studs in a closet that held
the water heater. Elsewhere in the house, the water pipes
froze and burst open like banana peels and even one of
the radiators burst when it froze. The cabinets were
metal and covered with "goo" that made us gag. The
room smelled and everything felt "greasy". The fireplace was
filled with soot up to the thimble, about 6 1/2 feet high.
It's suprising the house didn't completely burn to the
ground!
But now, after almost 4 years and tens of
thousands of dollars, the kitchen is a warm, safe and
cozy place to be. The fireplace was rebuilt and gas logs keep
the whole back addition warm. The cabinets are maple and the
floor is the original heart pine. The floor is stained
with black streaks from water damage. We decided not to
replace the floor because it tells a story. Putting the puzzle
together, we believe the kitchen caught fire and the flames
were put out by the garden hose, hence, the water stained
floor.
The "before" photo on the left is
actually 3 photos that have been merged
together. The "now" photo is also a composite of three
photos.
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Master Bedroom
Not as scary as the kitchen, but running a
close second, was the Master Bedroom. It is located in the
Civil War addition, directly over the Parlor. Apparently,
there was a wood stove in the room before Charlie Barton
moved to the kitchen. The walls were covered with soot
and dirt. The wallpaper was peeling off and Charlie had
written on the walls. If he didn't have a piece of paper
to write on, he just started writing wherever he was, on
whatever was available, usually the walls. The original
fireplace in this room had been filled with brick and a
thimble for a stove installed. We took apart the fireplace and
restored it to original condition. The north fireplace wall
was also stripped of its plaster covering and the stone
exposed. Two closets were added on the East wall. We still
have to strip and replace all the original woodwork, but
that's a "long term" project that will be going on for years
to come! |
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Before |
During,
rebuilding fireplace  |
Now |
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Yes, I'm sure these are of the same
room!
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Dining Room
The dining room was in good condition. The
fireplace in the room was constructed of brick in 1880. But
there was no footing poured in the basement below, so
it sagged. To make matters worse, the mortar between the
bricks was crumbling and so were the bricks
themselves. You could rock the whole chimney back and
forth from the basement to the roof. So we removed
the chimney in the dining room and the guest room
directly above it and decided not to replace it.
We still have to finish painting the doors
and some of the trim around the windows and install the window
sills and aprons. All the wood trim was removed in the entire
house. In this "Now" photo, all of the original trim was
stripped, primed and painted. There were only 2 coats of paint
on the woodwork in this room, the original medium gray color
and then white. There is anaglypta (3D pattern) wallpaper
under the chair rail that is painted a light gray to
coordinate with the red walls and white trim.
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Parlor
The parlor was in fair shape to start
with. The fireplace was covered over with brick then
plastered. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls. It was
wallpaper that Mrs. Glascock hung in the early 1960s. The
north wall had a huge crack from the middle of the fireplace
to the ceiling. The floor was in very good
condition.
We tore apart the fireplace and rebuilt it
with the original stone and fixed the crack. The ceiling was
replaced - ALL the ceilings in the house were replaced - and
the original mantel was stripped and painted. We added a pair
of sconces over the mantel. Mary painted the room using an
unusual painting technique - she painted the whole room a flat
tan color, then masked off large stripes and painted the
unmasked part with clear gloss polyurethane. This gave the
room a totally different look and the stripes are
only visible from certain angles. Here they are visible
because of the camera flash.
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Master Bathroom
The only bathroom in the house was located
on the second story, off a hall in the entry. The door was in
the hallway to the attic. The room was part of the Civil War
addition and built by Paul and Sarah Smith in the
early 1860s. They used it for storage. It was in
poor condition. The floor was rotted along the outside wall
from leaking water pipes. I've never seen so much peeling
paint! The clawfoot tub was in good condition. The
toilet, from the 1950s, was also in good condition.
We replaced the rotted floorboards with
boards from other places in the house that matched. All
fixtures were removed. The wall at the end of the room was
stripped of stucco and it revealed the beautiful stone work
from the original house. I decided to keep the stone exposed
in the shower. The room layout was changed using
cherry cabinetry and the original toilet. The entry doorway
was moved from the hall to the master bedroom and a pocket
door installed. "Privacy walls" were erected between the
vanity and toilet, and toilet and shower. The tub was removed
and reinstalled in the main bathroom. This bathroom is a
3/4 bathroom - it has no tub, just a shower. The shower is
custom and is 4' wide x 6' long.
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The original
fixtures  |
Framing
the bathroom |
"Now",
looking into shower.  |
Ready for tile |
Almost complete! |
Window
Sill tile | | |
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