Our challenge is to integrate new construction with the old frame and materials so that the finished home closely resembles the original.  We dug a new foundation,  (wow – an old home with a new foundation!) built a 2 x 6 stud frame – typical new construction – and then re-assembled the original home’s frame inside.  With the “stick-built” exterior skin we are able to wire, plumb, and insulate according to today’s standards – a new, old house! 

Since the Maxcy Fisher homestead was dismantled at least eight years ago we had to rely on pictures taken at that time to guide us about interior details. Wherever possible we re-used original iron hardware, cupboards, mantels, flooring and wall paneling. Sometimes it’s also possible to plane the exterior sheathing to re-use as flooring but, in this case, the contractor who dismantled the house used the oak sheathing for flooring in his own home!  So we purchased period wide board pine flooring from a wonderful salvage yard in Connecticut to make up the remainder of what we needed.

As is typical in very old capes, the low pitch of the roof left little headroom in the upstairs sleeping chambers. Therefore, we raised the roof pitch but kept the elegant slope of the cape design so that our re-built house closely resembles the original but with a higher roof.  With the 12 pitch roof, we now had ample room upstairs for generous bedrooms and upstairs bath.

The upstairs bedrooms in the original house were accessed by narrow, steep stairs in the front hall. Current code did not allow rebuilding these stairs so we converted the space into a closet but kept the original door and bottom steps leading to it. But this raised the question – where to put the stairs?  We solved this problem by building stairs in the new kitchen ell that ties into the back of the house.  This new kitchen ell opens into the old keeping room – you’ll see what we mean when you look at the pictures of the finished house.  Not only did this new addition add a new kitchen to the old house, but it provided space for a generously proportioned fourth bedroom upstairs.

Doors also pose problems.  Current building code requires doors to be of a certain height and width; eighteenth century doors rarely meet current code – at least, not the height ones! We were fortunate that the Hollis Historic Commission and Planning Board allowed us to re-use as many of the original doors as we could that were 75” or higher and 28” wide.  But this meant that, unlike most all builders today, we could not use pre-constructed doors that pop into the frame.  All our doors were not only hand-restored, but required custom built frames and trim to accommodate their various sizes and shapes.

 

Exterior doors swung from iron pintels inserted into iron straps nailed onto the doors. Interior doors swung from more delicate L or H shaped hinges. It’s hard finding intact L and H iron hinges because they were securely nailed to both the door and the wall and almost impossible to detach without ruining an old door. We have preserved these hinges and re-used them wherever possible.

Suffolk and Norfolk style latches were found on the Maxcy Fisher doors. Where these could be removed we turned to our local blacksmith to repair and oil them.

We always look for original interior decoration on flooring and walls. In this case, we removed decades of wallpaper to reveal the milk paint underneath. The wallpaper was not applied until the turn of the 20th century because newspaper dating back to 1907 was also stuck to the panels. What we did discover underneath the layers of milk paint was original faux painting following the grain of the wood.  The colors you see in the house were inspired by the old wood grain paint.

Now click on the photo gallery to see the various construction stages and if you have any questions – just email us – info@therestoredhomestead.com.