Monday, March 3, 2014

Why was the wall moved?



When the Thales Yeaton House was converted to create twentieth century apartments, two bathrooms were installed in back of the first floor.  While Dan completed the necessary demo of the flooring in the area of these rooms, it became clear that the wall separating the two spaces was moved at some point.  The floorboards have been cut where the wall was pushed back, seemingly to make room for two bathrooms. The bathroom adjacent to the original c. 1795 kitchen was once a much smaller pantry, where the marks of shelving remain visible.  The other twentieth century bathroom is believed to have been part of Lydia Amazeen's dower portion.  (Her husband had purchased the house in 1814 and when he died she was given life rights to a third of the house, a fairly common circumstance.)The room would have been bigger, and a more reasonable living space she could have used as sleeping quarters.  


John stands on the sub-floor right before the cut off floor boards, where the original wall stood.  It was pushed back to make the back portion of the house into two bathrooms. This space was built as storage space, or a pantry, adjacent to the original kitchen.
The baseboard running along the back of the two rooms is the same until a protruding stud,
where the original wall once began.  
The crown moulding was cut from the original wall when it was moved and put back in place in the new location, in the larger of the two spaces.  
The dentils of the crown don't meet up revealing a change in the original workmanship.
The adjustment in wall placement is a small detail in the evolution of the house, but shows how it was modified with the changing needs of its residents. 





 


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