Got a Happy Story? Early American Homes Edition

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

I've always lived in New England and our regional architecture is a familiar comfort for me.  Last fall I accompanied my son's 5th grade class on a walking tour to one of the local historic homes.  Along the way we passed many more.  It was a beautiful stroll as the leaves were turning.  This week the same homes have been surrounded by flowers in bloom and budding trees.  I live in such a beautiful area and I thought I'd share some of it in a few diaries.

The earliest homes in town were Cape Cod houses.  They're known by their steep pitched roof, small windows and low ceilings.  They're simple homes with a central chimney.  The Cape Cod houses in town have had additions added but the original house still remains.

Constant Southworth house, 1665

The original front entry is to the left along the lane.  The dormers have been added to the original house as has the addition on the right with the new front door.  The road in foreground is a busy local route that didn't exist back in the 1600s.

Edward Winslow house, 1797

This home was built by a carpenter working in the shipyard.  The original house is the central section.  The house was turned on its foundation to face the street.  Previously it faced the Bluefish River, behind the house.  According to the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society there were 6 shipyards along the river and another 14 within close proximity.  While the street this house is on is a busy main road in town, it didn't exist when the home was built.  However, by the time the carpenter's sons were grown there was some semblance of a street because their homes face the street.  

Federal style homes were named for the period when the federal government was first institued after the Revolutionary War.  They are more decorative with ornate carvings around doorways and windows.  Earlier federal homes have a large central chimney, which could serve 6 fireplaces.  Later federal homes had 2 chimneys on either side.  "There is balance and harmony in their height and width, in the pitch of their foofs and in the symmetrical arrangement of their handsome doorways and windows."--DRHS

Samuel Winslow house, 1833

These are just two of the early architectural styles in New England.  I'll move on to Greek Revival and Victorians next time.  It really is quite lovely to walk or drive along streets with homes like these to provide visual interest.

What's your happy story this week?

•  My happy story

  is that rowing starts a week from today!!!  I still need to go sign up for my classes but I'm definitely raring to go.

  by sobermom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 05:51:51 PM PDT

  •  Rowing machines

    are one of the few aerobic things I can do without killing my knees.  

    But I've never really rowed in a boat

    by plf515 on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:06:24 PM PDT

    •  Have you tried kayaking?

      I love my little recreational kayak. You don't have to use your knees for anything!

      by Leap Year on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:21:14 PM PDT

      •  I did kayak once or twice

        not really easy to do it much near where I live (New York City) although, in the summer, there is kayaking on the Hudson.

        In one gym I belonged to once, there was a kayak machine.... but I've never seen it again.

        by plf515 on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:26:18 PM PDT

        •  Great kayak spots in NYC

          Water suppy aquducts run from The Catskills and Whestchester County all the way to Midtown. Exciting and convenient.

          Paddling upstream is a great upper body workout.

          The Catskill Aqueduct Rocks, Dude!

          by koNko on Fri May 02, 2008 at 07:47:29 PM PDT

•  I love your pictures of the historic

  homes. We have some lovely colonial and federal homes in my part of NJ as well.

  by blue jersey mom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 05:52:38 PM PDT

  •  Westfield NJ is one

    of those towns with beautiful, historic homes.  My dad's house is 108 years old.

    by Desert Rose on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:11:46 PM PDT

•  Viva New England

  One thing I am pleased about is the lack of McMansion developments around here.

  MHS - lost all the baby weight, only the muffin top remains. Husband also lost about 15 pounds.

  Also, saw a box of cereal at Big Lots called 'Muffin Tops'. Thought that was funny.

  by ablington on Fri May 02, 2008 at 05:57:24 PM PDT

  •  aha

    muffin tops

    by ablington on Fri May 02, 2008 at 05:58:28 PM PDT

  •  Good for you

    That's quite a feat.  My baby is 11 and I guess it isn't baby weight anymore.  But good for both you and your hubby.  You should be proud of yourselves.

    by sobermom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:21:40 PM PDT

•  A home I lived in in Brainard NY

  It was our first country home, and it was on Thompson lane, named after the owner of our home which was built around 1840.

  I checked out the deed, and the foreclosure problem is not a new one.  The house had been foreclosed because the debt, something like $500 was not paid.  

  The house was a simple farm house, with low ceilings and a steep staircase. There was a quarter acre bond just down the hill with the house and an old barn.

  The house was post and beam construction with lathe walls, that's stripps of wood finished with plaster, and then wood siding on the outside.  

  Once when we were in NYC there was a wind storm and a large weeping willow tree fell across the house.  It damaged the fascia, but structually it rested on an 8 inch beam.  The house hardly noticed it.

  I miss that house, and it pains me to write about it.  But we had the experience, and that will stay with us.  

  by arodb on Fri May 02, 2008 at 05:59:03 PM PDT

•  ah, interesting architecture!

  I have to say that one of the things I miss most living out west is interesting architecture. We just don't have that much of it. I live in a little house that was built by the Union Pacific Railroad as they came through Wyoming for their workers. No one knows exactly when it was built since it shows up on the very first map of Laramie. Unfortunately, by the time we got it, it had very little historical integrity left. And we've done even more updating. But when I go back east, one of the things I really love is the architecture ... and the old cemeteries.

  But here's an old lodge in the Snowy Range mountains to the west of us. It's owned by the family of a dear friend.

  

  by kainah on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:01:25 PM PDT

  •  cool house in Athens, GA

    

    by kainah on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:08:57 PM PDT

    •  This one is a fun victorian

      The victorians in our town are fairly dull I have to say.  I love the ones in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard.  Those are my idea of victorians.  

      And I do like the snowy lodge.  It's very very simple but visually appealing.

      by sobermom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:25:47 PM PDT

  •  Heart Mountain Internment Camp

    You've sent me looking through photos for pictures of houses, sobermom. And while the "houses" are now gone at Heart Mountain, in its heyday, it was Wyoming's 3rd largest "city." Of course, its heyday was World War II because the "residents" of Heart Mountain were all interned Japanese-Americans, sent to live in these concentration camps in one of FDR's most disgraceful acts. The use of the term "concentration camps" is still controversial but as someone I know once said, "they sure were concentrated and calling it a 'camp' is kind."

    Anyway, this is the old hospital barracks at Heart Mountain. Most of the barracks that the internees lived in didn't look much different. When the "camp" closed, they were offered up to WWII vets who wanted to homestead in the region. Two barracks for $2, if I remember correctly. With a keen eye, you can pick out a ton of houses in the area between Powell and Cody, WY that have these barracks as their foundational structure.

    

    Incidentally, it was at Heart Mountain that Alan Simpson (former R Sen from WY) became friends with Norman Mineta (former D Congressman and cabinet official for Bill Clinton). Simpson's boy scout troop would go out to the camp and he met and befriended Mineta, an internee, there.

    by kainah on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:21:53 PM PDT

    •  Wow what an interesting story

      about Simpson and Mineta.  I didn't realize that the internment camps were in Wyoming.

      I think the history around all of us is so amazing.  The town I live in is reliably Republican but during the colonial period they were strong resisted the crown.  I was surprised to learn it wasn't a Tory stronghold--it certainly is now.

      by sobermom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:30:00 PM PDT

  •  Uncle Remus Slave Cabin

    Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Uncle Remus and Bre'er Rabbit stories -- grew up in a little town [name escapes me] south of Athens, GA. We went to check out the Uncle Remus museum since my dad used to read little sister (kos's littlesky) those stories. (When I was little, he traveled too much to read to us.) It was a pretty interesting place.

    Behind the main house was this old slave cabin:

    

    It appears to have received a few upgrades since its slave days. But it still had a very lonesome feel about it.

    by kainah on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:42:12 PM PDT

•  The oldest house I ever lived in

  was, I think, built around 1855.  It was the original parsonage of a Methodist church.  It was a funny little place.  No closets at all, a coal cellar and a root cellar in the basement, and a bathroom squeezed into parts of two bedrooms.  You could stand in the center of the bathroom and touch everything in it without bending.  

  The best thing about the house was that there was only one long wall in the dining room, so that was where the china closet was.  And on Sunday mornings we moved it out an inch.  The house was attached to the church, and the organ would walk the china right out of the closet if we didn't take precautions!

  by escapee on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:02:05 PM PDT

  •  Closets were a recent invention...

    perhaps early 20th century.  Before that there were wardrobes, that large furniture with two or three doors.

    This sometimes is a problem as certain real estate MLS services require that a Bed room to be counted as such, must have a closet.

    by arodb on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:12:27 PM PDT

    •  Not in NYC

      Where a closet is counted as a room.

      by Glinda on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:14:11 PM PDT

      •  Ahhh, New York

        I'm in California now and I can't afford to move back to the upper west side.  

        I met the guy who lived in the derelict structure, old pier,  that was opposite Trump Place, in the Hudson about 67th street.

        He had the ideal place---river view, no noisy neighbors, and it was his until the whether changed and he went to his Florida abode.

        by arodb on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:17:48 PM PDT

      •  In Hong Kong

        A closet is counted as a house.

        by koNko on Fri May 02, 2008 at 08:20:56 PM PDT

•  Nice diary, sobermom

  We have some very old homes in New Haven including some very old saltbox (AKA "Cape Cod") homes, and plenty of nicely preserved specimens from the other architectural styles. My own home is 108 years old, just a toddler compared to some of the other local gems.

  Did you ever wonder how the Raised Ranch, the Jumbo Raised Ranch, the Dynasty Raised Ranch, and the McMansion will appear to others in 100 years?

  I find it irresistable to speculate about the lives of the families in those old saltboxes (back in the day, not now) while the families spooned in the same bed for warmth, procreated with the children in the same bed or room, and watched so many of their children die before adulthood from infectious disease. Boggles the mind.

  by madaprn on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:04:06 PM PDT

  •  story in local paper

    The local paper has been running a series on housing in Wyoming and they had an article about this woman who has lived in the same house for over 50 years. It has 850 square feet and, when her kids were growing up, there were a total of eleven people living in it. Hard to imagine...... She said she would have given a lot for an extra foot here and there in each room but that she loved the house and would never leave.

    by kainah on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:11:26 PM PDT

  •  One of the more interesting phenomenons

    taking place in town is that new homes being built are utilizing the older styles.  Many of the new homes are built in federal style.

    I don't like the look of raised ranches, or ever regular ranches.  My mother always dismissed them as boxes but my father wanted one in the worst way.  I grew up in a house where additions kept being tacked on to the original pre Civil War farmhouse.  My father hates all of the details my mother loves.

    This area is fairly conservative so we don't see too many sprawling McMansions.  Some of these older homes with their servant quarters in the back can be quite large though.

    by sobermom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:39:08 PM PDT

    •  what's a "raised ranch"? n/t

      by kainah on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:43:13 PM PDT

      •  I think it's also called

        a split level.  Here's a picture of one.

        by sobermom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:50:13 PM PDT

        •  oh......

          yes, I know that as a split level and it is absolutely my least favorite type of house. Especially being disabled.... In most of those, you have a choice between two staircases to get to a bathroom. Not disability friendly.

          by kainah on Fri May 02, 2008 at 07:05:10 PM PDT

•  Happy story?

  Son #2 actually just called me to alert me to his artwork in a magazine. We haven't been getting along lately, so a friendly call just feels good.

  by madaprn on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:08:18 PM PDT

•  Old homes and a joke

  What's the difference between Europeans and Americans?

  Europeans think 100 miles is a long distance
  Americans think 100 years is a long time.

  My parents, on one of their visits to England, stayed with a friend who was a fellow of All Souls College.  The house they stayed in was called "The Pest House" because people used it to escape the plague.

  by plf515 on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:08:47 PM PDT

  •  I spent a year in Oxford

    The house I lived in was 400 years old.  Wood, too!

    by oscarsmom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:12:38 PM PDT

  •  If only our tract built houses last...

    a fifth that long, I'd be happy.

    Actually, I understand there are wooden houses in Japan that are still usable at over a thousand years old.

    These were not built to be flipped.

    by arodb on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:14:24 PM PDT

    •  no nails either--

      Japanese joinery is a thing of wonder.

      by bwren on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:46:28 PM PDT

•  My parents always lived in old houses

  This house:

  

  was built in 1727 in Norwich, CT and we lived here for the first 7 years of my life.  My parents then moved into a house built in 1790 - I appreciate old houses, but vowed I would never live in one again - they're too much work.

  by CTLiberal on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:16:11 PM PDT

  •  You are so right ...

    If we ever sell our house I want a totally green modern house.  But I don't believe in building new houses on pristine land, so I guess I'll have to buy a shack of no historical value and tear it down.

    I love your parents' Dutch Colonial. That's a beautiful part of CT you are from.

    by Glinda on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:28:35 PM PDT

    •  I want a green house - totally organic and

      self sustaining and off the grid. That is my goal - the house I live in now was built in 1993, but it has electric heat.  Electric rates in CT have been raised 30% in the past year - I paid $800.00 for the month of January - uggghh, something has to be done.  Privatization my ass!

      by CTLiberal on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:42:58 PM PDT

  •  Was the gambrel roof original

    or was it added in the 1800s?  That house has a lot of character to it and I love the front walkway.  Is that wisteria?

    by sobermom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:55:11 PM PDT

    •  I have no idea

      This picture was taken in 2006 and we moved out of there in 1977.  I was trying to find a picture of when we lived there, but I couldn't....the house looked different 30 years ago.

      The house was listed for sale, so I called and pretended to be an interested buyer, but I was really taking a walk down memory lane.  I remembered the house much bigger, but of course I was 7 years old when we moved out of there and 36 years old when I walked through again.

      by CTLiberal on Fri May 02, 2008 at 07:32:44 PM PDT

•  I have an 1870 Colonial in Dutchess County NY

  The only closets are in the 1st floor addition and in the remodeled (circa 1920) hallway and master bedroom upstairs. Armoires take up the slack in the other bedrooms.  I would kill for a hallway closet though.

  by Glinda on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:18:53 PM PDT

•  My Old House in Maine

  I am sitting here in my office in the middle of Los Angeles and your story has transported me back to Waldoboro, Maine. We bought an old farm house on 14 acres (with a brook in the back pasture) and a HUGE attached summer kitchen and barn. The best part - we paid a whopping $14,000 for it in 1971.  No closets but lots of room to add them and a very friendly ghost who liked the rocking chair in the kitchen.  I might still be there if I had stayed married to my first husband but that's another story.  Great diary, good to get away from the politics for a while!  Thank you.

  by Lefty Ladig on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:22:26 PM PDT

•  This old house...

  ..was built in Johnson County, Texas starting around 1855.  When my family bought the property in 1960, my mother set about restoring it, and it was  lived there from 1964 until my we sold the farm in 1991 - it is a lovely place, very cool in the summer, warm in the winter.  It is built on limestone foundation with hand-hewn cypress logs that were carted in from Louisiana.  The walls are heart of oak (and damn hard to pull the old wallpaper tacks out of).
   Here is the house in 1930 or thereabouts:
  
   Here it is before the complete renovation:
   
   and here is a fuzzy picture of the west side of the house with the "new" wing attached in 1967:
   
  My happy story is the memory of sitting on that front porch in the evenings....
  Great diary, thanks!

  by drchelo on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:30:37 PM PDT

  •  Those porches

    Oh I love those porches!  They're big enough to have good sized furniture or porch swings.  That really makes a porch.  How is it sans chemo?

    by sobermom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:43:49 PM PDT

    •  I'm just barely finished...

      ,,and my body doesn't understand that all the poisons are all finished with.  I give it another two weeks for my body to realize that it can start t grow hair, blood cells, hair cells and that it will be OK to start rebuilding mouth and gum tissues, and that the gut cells can start growing again...who knows what I'll look like in three or four weeks!
       Thanks for asking!

      by drchelo on Fri May 02, 2008 at 08:18:28 PM PDT

•  My grandmother

  lived in an 11th century village in the south of France....Her apartment (now my mother's nightmare:)) has ancient timbers in the ceilings and has alcoves carved from rock. Staying there has always been one of my favorite things to do.  The history of the place just boggles the mind.  The chateau has tables and chairs so small you would swear you were in a Tolkien novel.  Aaahh, memories:)

  My REALLY good news is that I got to meet Governor Kaine (Virginia) yesterday and he really is down to earth.  I'm glad I voted for him....most of the time!

  I'll save my bad news for tomorrow...

  by Kifaru1 on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:42:30 PM PDT

•  If you ask a child to draw a house

  they'll draw ours. It turned 100 last year. Mr Bwren is slowly and lovingly repairing the icky "modernized"  things the previous owner did. The current project is the front hallway, now down to the 101 year old clear douglas fir studs. It will be beautiful, with a high ceiling and proper window trim. We are looking for the right front door at the used-house stores.

  I so wish I could hear all the stories this house has to tell.

  by bwren on Fri May 02, 2008 at 06:43:03 PM PDT

•  Oh this is just great

  Architectural lessons on the installment plan. I love that since I've aways been a layman fan of architecture but still have so much to learn.

  Next time I will add something about two houses in my old neighborhood, The Valentine-Varian House and The Poe Cottage.

  If it wasn't for the fact that I already have next week's Happy Story already written, I'd write those two up as a segway into your next edition.  Maybe I still will and save my California Sunset Edition for another week.

  I was filled with happy California stories for this week but they got me right back into the swing of things and I'm just back from Martin Josman and the National Chorale. I had a good time tonight working with some old friends.

  But you want to hear a happy story or perhaps a crazy story? I just booked a trip to Laguna Beach on May 15! Pretty cool since I came back from there on May 1. Very bi-coastal of me, don't you think?

  Now if I can just find the money for this trip. Oh that's Happy story number two. I'm doing back to back major productions between California trips.

  Life is good.  

  by Eddie C on Fri May 02, 2008 at 09:29:22 PM PDT

  •  I didn't realize you were home

    That seems like a fast vacation.  I thought you were going to be there for 3 weeks.  But maybe you are since you're going back again.  How did that happen?

    It's great to hear from you.  I'm off to bed.  My former sponsor now sponsee isn't thrilled with my limited availability on Friday nights.  It is weird saying you can't be somewhere since you have to write a diary on a blog.

    I'm glad you're home safe and have plenty of work.  When I heard Madonna was in town I was thinking it was too bad you were away because I'm sure you would have worked that one.

    by sobermom on Fri May 02, 2008 at 09:51:01 PM PDT

    •  Hey I was just replying to you elsewhere

      To me a split level is this;

      

      It is the house that I always wanted to live in. Usually the front door opens to foyer with a short flight of stairs leading up to the bedrooms, followed by a short flight of stairs leading down to the garage and the family room behind the garage.  A kitchen is behind that with a living room to the right and a fireplace on the far right wall. Behind the fireplace  is a dining room with an archway that leads back to the  walk through kitchen and a door to a deck overlooking the back yard.

      The reason I always wanted to by one is that layout. It must be very easy to clean.

      Madonna only played Roseland with an intimate show. I wish I could have been there. But I have Camelot followed by the ABC Upfront to look forward to. I think I may lose TU status for the first time since November of 2005 because of those shows. The hours will be intense.  

      It's great to be home and it will be even better to be gone in two weeks. While I was at it I booked Austin. I'm flying in on July 15 and staying till July 20. Whoo-hoo!

      An old AA friend died while I was away. I didn't find out any details yet. Oh and here is what I Came home to. That's my complex!

      I hope all is well with you and yours.

      by Eddie C on Fri May 02, 2008 at 10:14:44 PM PDT

      •  Yikes!

        I think the diary thing will help with TU status.  I don't comment a ton anymore because I'm hardly ever on the computer anymore it seems.  But I've managed to keep TU status anyway.

        Yikes, what a horrid thing to come home to in addition to the death of your friend.  It must make Laguna Beach look like paradise.  Did you catch meetings while you were out there?

        I think a split level works for families and healthy people, not so much for those with handicaps.  I am more and more frustrated with our house these days.  I keep wondering what the hell my father-in-law was thinking when he built the addition.  For a house near the ocean it has the stupidest layout possible.  The house next door has been torn down and they're building a new one.  I wish that was possible for us.

        Well I'm off to get ready for my CCD class making their 1st Communion at 1:00.  Have a great day.

        by sobermom on Sat May 03, 2008 at 08:16:26 AM PDT

•  Intermission Comment

  Hi sobermom and hello to everyone. No time to read and a rec usually blows up this here Trio.

  In between acts one and two here in the lovely little CAMELOT spotlight booth and missing Got a Happy Story?

  Did anyone watch it last night on PBS?

  It feels like forever since the last time I posted and it has been over a month but I have a very happy story. Next Friday I will be posting from my far nicer perch just above the sand of Laguna Beach.

  There will be plenty of California photos.

  Have a great night and a happy weekend.
  

  by Eddie C on Fri May 09, 2008 at 06:24:49 PM PDT