HVVA NEWSLETTER, August 2003 The John Bowne House
Part Two, John Bowne House (Click on graphics for larger view)
Stage II The house was lengthened 21-feet to the west, either circa 1680, if Stage I was built in the 1660s, or circa 1692 if Stage I was built in 1680. (**). It would seem that the leanto, about 12-feet wide, was built across the back (north side) of the house. Possibly a leanto of some kind predated Stage II. In the last few years the north wall of the house was rebuilt and the framing of the 17th century leanto was exposed. It was in extremely deteriorated condition and was mostly, if not completely replaced. Some framing elements from the east end of this north wall were saved, and their replicated counterparts can be seen from inside the leanto. The writer has not had access to drawings, photographs or reports describing and illustrating what was found and cannot express an opinion whether the leanto was all built at one time, or in stages. The main part of the addition would appear to be constructed in the Dutch H-bent system, but the framing is so completely concealed that one can only surmise what happens under paneled and plastered surfaces. On the north end of the second bent from the west end there is a curved soffit anchor beam brace (corbel brace) protruding through a paneled wall. The writer's suspicion is that all the interior anchor beams originally had braces and they were removed in Stage III except for this one survivor. Horizontal timbers are set between south rafters II and III of the Stage II part, and Rafters I and II of the Stage I part. These are placed on their diagonals and are presumably gained into the rafters. Flats are cut into them to receive horizontal timbers that projected outward and may have been hoisting beams or perhaps ridge timbers for dormers. The projecting timbers were pinned to the bearers into which they were lodged. As noted in Stage I, in Stage II the roof was boarded with 5/8-inch thick mill sawn oak boards, and there are clearly defined holes in this boarding for the hoisting beam/ridge timbers, whichever they were.
Stage III The house was drastically remodeled circa 1750 at which time it achieved, essentially, its present appearance from the south. The existing chimney stack was removed and replaced with the existing one that has two fireplaces on the first and two on the second floors. The Stage I and II door and window units were discarded. The present front door, although it has been modified, retains its original wood-muntined transom. New double-hung sash units were installed. The original frames of the two windows of the south wall west of the doorway, and the west window in the main room remain in place. These windows originally had 12 over 12 sash. The three shed roofed dormers with mullioned windows on the south slope of the roof replaced the Stage II dormers. The window frame in the west wall of the leanto does not appear to be original. An early 19th century lithograph (circa 1820) shows a granary door in the west wall of the house on the second floor within the leanto. The stair hall remains in essentially original condition. The east main room has a partially paneled fireplace wall, mostly it is of vertical tongue-and-groove boarding. It originally had plastered walls and ceiling. The Stage I partition was removed and a new one constructed about 18-inches to the east. At the north end of it, facing into the large room, is a china cupboard of 18th century date which may be original to this location, but may also have come from another location. The interior of this room is heavily disturbed in an attempt to restore it to an earlier appearance in the 20th century. Stage IV The construction of the east (kitchen) fits the beginning of Stage IV (circa 1800 to 1810). It was seemingly built to include a pre-existing fireplace and bake oven that may date to Stage III. The kitchen wing was expanded in width, possibly circa 1840. A leanto was built across the east end of the kitchen wing, putting the bake oven dome under cover. The Historic American Building Survey drawings of the house, prepared in 1936 (17-sheets plus 31 photographs) record the house as it was after Stage N alterations and show it essentially as it remains today. Gordon William Fulton, a student at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Historic Preservation at Columbia University in 1981 produced a "Historic Structures Report" for the Bowne house. This consists of 206-pages, and is especially valuable for the historical documentation it supplies on the house. The following appendices derived from John Bowne's records supply interesting informationa1about 17th century building technology. They have been freely transcribed by the writer.
APPENDICES Appendix I A Barn - March 12,
1665/6 (*) In early contracts, width of
barns is often given as the width of the center aisle that is the
length of the anchorbeam. The"side aisles are assumed to be 9
or l0-feet. John Bowne's barn would measure about 40-feet in width
but probably a foot or two less in length than width. Bowne does not
specify the number of bays but they were probably three. This 4-page report has been edited from the 10-page
original. It was prepared for the Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture
Newsletter, August 2003, Vol. 5 No., 8. Copies of the full to-page
report will soon be available for $3, write Copyright © 2004. Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture. All rights reserved. All items on the site are copyrighted. While we welcome you to use the information provided on this web site by copying it, or downloading it; this information is copyrighted and not to be reproduced for distribution, sale, or profit. |
