THE WALTER SCOTT HOPKINS HOUSE
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.
[Illustration: Before Remodeling]
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.
[Illustration: As Remodeled]
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.
[Illustration: The Living Room]
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.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Two Views of the Dining Room]
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.