The mansion house has been owned and occupied by wealthy families ever since it was built. It is considered one of the most picturesque homes in New England. Unlike other houses built at that period, the walls, which are two feet thick, were made of granite interspersed with stone and brick, over which a thick overlay of plaster was placed, and having arched doorways and windows and small niches introduced over the door. The wooden additions at the back were built for the use of servants. The porch of the house is unique. The bricks that form the arch of the door have fancy, rounded edges that distinguish them from those made in the colony. Hanging vines add to the picturesqueness of the house. The entrance door is divided like the Dutch doors of to-day, showing two sections acting independently, the upper part being at one time protected by an inner shutter. This was arranged so as to hang down from the ceiling, the old hinges which are still left plainly attesting to this fact. There are also shown to-day marks of the pulley through which ran the cords to raise and lower the shutter. The old-fashioned door swings back on wrought hinges twenty-four inches in length. These, as well as the old hardware in the house, have been carefully preserved. [Illustration: PLATE XXXIX.--Hallway, Spencer-Pierce House.] Between the outside porch and the inner one is a second set of doors, in between which are hanging buckets. These are of leather and were kept in the hall of every house for use in case of fire. The stairway starts at the right-hand side of the hall, which is merely a narrow passageway. It leads by two turns to the second-story floor and has a most unusual background in the brick work of a large chimney. Tradition tells us that the builder of these stairs received no ready money for his work but, instead, eight acres of land, since it was a very common practice at that time to pay for work in this way. [Illustration: PLATE XL.--Dining Room, Spencer-Pierce House; Living Room, Spencer-Pierce House.] [Illustration: PLATE XLI.--Parlor, Spencer-Pierce House.] At the right is the old parlor, which is now used as the family dining-room. It is a spacious apartment, nineteen feet square, with walls two feet thick, corresponding in depth to all those found in the main house. Great oak beams, rough with marks of the adze, support the chamber floors. These beams, for many years boxed in, have been lately revealed. The table in the parlor is of the empire period, while the chairs are rough bottomed, Windsor, and other types, all colonial, though of mixed periods. Singularly enough, the house differs from most of its kind in that it has two main chimneys, one providing fireplaces between the front rooms and the other built in the kitchen. During the summer months these are still used, but in the winter stoves are substituted.