Attic and Basement Tours

Attic
The attic is reached by means of a ladder contained behind an access door in the second floor hall.  Pegged corner six over six windows located on the north and south sides of the attic are likely 19th century replacements.  The roof rafters, likely original, are carried on raised plates.  The attic floor has been elevated to create a cavity for insulation, but it appears that wide-plank flooring remains in place undeerneath.  As the original attic floor was supposed to have been re-laid in the living room in the 1930s, it is unclear if this is original sub-flooring, or a later replacement.
 
Basement
The basement of the house is accessed by stairs located behind a likely original beaded board-and-batten door in the original Kitchen. While the stair treads are modern replacements, the rough hewn stringers may be original. The floor, which was likely dirt at the time of construction, has since had a concrete surface installed. Made of fieldstone, evidence indicates that the basement was also earlier accessible from an exterior entrance on the south side of the house. This entrance was subsequently moved to the north side of the basement, probably when the coal furnace was installed near the north entrance in the late 19th century. The massive chimney stack is centered in the basement. Located at the base of the chimney stack on the south side is a small opening to an unusually large beehive oven. Floor joists, which consist primarily of cedar logs, span the basement. According to a 1961 study of the house, many of these joists are replacements, installed in 1937. One major joist is clearly original and inspection of the top of this timber reveals a series of unusual slits intended to direct dust and debris from the floor above into the basement. All chimney masonry in the basement, as well as all of the original woodwork on the basement stairs and the remaining original floor joists retain varying degrees of whitewash.