Colonial Homes and Their FurnishingsNorthend, Mary Harrod
History
Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings
Northend, Mary Harrod
Architecture, Colonial; Furniture -- United States
Later came the more pretentious hall, typical of the gambrel roof house,
that enjoyed so long a period of popularity. This was generally a narrow
passage, with doors opening at either side into the main front
apartments, and with the staircase at the end rising in a series of
turns to the rooms above. The first turn often contained in one corner a
small table, which held a candlestick and candle used to light a guest
to bed, or a grandfather's clock, the dark wood of its casing serving
as an effective contrast to the otherwise light finish of the apartment.
Not infrequently the hall was solidly paneled, and a built-in cupboard
or like device was sometimes concealed behind the paneling; or, as in a
dwelling in Manchester, Massachusetts, it contained an innovation in the
form of a broad space opened between two high beams, halfway up the
staircase, arranged, no doubt, for the display of some choice
possession, and showing beneath a motto of religious import.
[Illustration: PLATE XIII.--Hallway, Lee House, 1800.]
In the better class of houses of this period, the hallway sometimes
extended the width of the dwelling, opening at the rear on to the yard
space. This type was the forerunner of the stately attractive hall that
came into vogue in the last half of the eighteenth century, and
continued in favor during the first years of the nineteenth century,
with the advent of the wooden and brick mansion.
Belonging to the earlier class are the Warner and Stark halls in New
Hampshire. The former is paneled from floor to ceiling, the white of the
finish now mellowed to ivory tones, and serving to display to advantage
the fine furnishings with which it is equipped. At the rear it opens
upon a grassy yard space, shaded by tall trees, thought to be the site
of the old slave quarters, long since demolished. The walls show several
adornments, among the most interesting being the enormous antlers of an
elk, which, tradition tells, were presented to the builder of the
dwelling by some of the Indians with whom he traded, as an evidence of
their friendship and good will. The latter hall is of similar type,
entered through a narrow door space and continuing the width of the
dwelling; it ends at the rear in a quaint old door that shows above its
broad wooden panels a row of green bull's eyes, specimens of early
American glass manufacture, still rough on the inside where detached
from the molding bar. This door gives upon an old-time garden plot,
fragrant with the blooms of its original planting, and preserving intact
its early features. Rare bits of old furniture are used in the equipment
of this hall, and the paneled walls are hung with family portraits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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