The purpose is to analyze each house in respect to a considerable
number of predominant features so as to arrive at totals which will
indicate the prevailing characteristics of the old houses. These are
exterior features on the front of the house or conspicuously visible
from the street.
In these old districts we have tabulated 319 old dwellings,
interspersed with 46 of modern or mixed design. As this includes
about two-thirds of the old houses, it is representative of the whole
as the rest are known to be of the same types.
Here is the list of features and the number of times each was
recorded:
Walls--wood 311; brick 8.
Exterior Surface of Front Wall--shingles 179; clapboards 132;
brick 8.
Exposed Foundations--brick 246; stone 65; modern replacements
8.
Height of Foundation above Ground, viz., height of first floor
above ground--
High (generally with 3 or 4 panes of glass vertically
in basement windows) 140.
Low (generally 1 or 2 steps to first floor; without
basement windows) 97.
Intermediate (between high and low) 82.
Number of Stories--two 271; one and one-half 30; one 16; three
2.
Roof Type--gable 287; lean-to 19; hip 8; gambrel 5.
Windows--total panes of glass in the two sashes--twelve 216;
twenty-four 49; eighteen 4.
Modern viz., two or four 50.
Dormers in front roof--the narrow gable roof, old type 29;
wide or with shed roof 23.
Roof Walks--35 Cupolas--14 Front Roof Balustrades--11.
Door Location--toward one side of the front 227; at center
of front 92.
Chimney Location--central 132; to one side of center 109;
near side of building 78.
Main chimneys were always of brick, generally with
six or less flues, now plastered or painted above
roof and located at or near the ridge at interior
of building.
Modern Detractions--noted occasionally in the 319 old houses: