Even more, the buttery in the Tavern ell had been equipped with rows of shelves running down one side, across the back of the room, and up the other side. Actually, Brian found them used as shelves in the attic, near all the elements of an Eighteenth Century wooden loom. The seven hand-cut granite fireplaces were being dismantled, stone by stone, during our visit. They will go with the frame of the house to its new owners in New Hampshire and will be reconstructed as working units, as will the meat smoking chamber the Early New England Restorations team found in the attic. The house is unusual in that it was left intact without being modernized, and original features include the corner cupboard and fireplace cupboards, raised paneling and wainscotting, all interior and exterior four-panel doors complete with hardware, even a raised panel front staircase.
Flooring is wide-board oak or pine.
It makes our job easier, and it saves our clients both time and money. Even pieces so distorted, altered or damaged by the ravages of time and weather they were no longer usable, are numbered and shipped to be used as templates in the creation of new replacements. It's a truism that the old first-growth timber, from which this house had obviously been constructed, is harder and more enduring than its modern counterpart. And the innovative, creative craftsmanship that originally went into the Jabez Jones house is infrequently enjoyed today. So we found it heartening and refreshing to know that more than 23 decades of tradition, historic significance and obvious care would find new life on a new site.