Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-01

! In the form of a twofioor, two-room
and alcove cottage. 90 by "a feet In
dormer window, ceilings raftered with
| heavy hardwood timber and floors
/ made of pine boards IL to IA inches
| wide. The walls of granite were &c
| inches thick, the chinks being plaster
| ed up with tenacious clay and the
| wall pointed with oysters shell plaster
| The oaken window frames and door
castings We're held together by hard
wood pins. And even after 1856 years
| of service. stress and strain. these
walls of stone and some of the orIgi
nal window frames are still In use---s
| remarkable tribute to the longevity
of old-fashioned building material. The
| chimney is built of brick imported
| from the British Isles There is q
great brick-lined fireplace on the
ground floor and another in the up
| stairs room.
When Mr.. Evans purchased the
! property. six years ago, the roof was
great sieve. speckied with holes
! The dilapidated doors hung on worn
hinges, the glassless windows offered
small resistance to the wall of the
wind or the sting of snowfiakes. The
downstairs floor was a shred OF wood
en- slivers and yawning holes wrought
| by decay. Just another deserted cot
| tage.
Its new owner had just sold his
| former home in, Washington, His
! family went West for a long visit
with relatives. while Mr. Evans moved
| out to BladenSburg to rough 1t" ir
| his stonespun house, while he made
essential repairs and additions tllrina
| his spare time from official Govern
ment duties
| First of all. the remodeling task re
| quired careful planning and intelli
| gent design. The additions had to bs
made TO coincide and blend with the
stone-cottage type of building The
attractive home which has been raised
from ruin is a reflection Of the
pains and patience which Mr. Evan,
devoted to his difficult job Alto
| gether, he has devoted the leisure o.
three years to the rejuvenation o.
| the historic house. With the ex
ception of the plumbing, electrical
wiring and telephone installation, thi:
| hard.working householder has per
| formed all the labor associated with
the rescue of the cottage.
X x*#
! W1N1ER ana summer, in COLI
weather and warm, under favor
able and unfavorable building condi
lions, this Washingtonian perseveret
in his strange. self-selected task. III,
purchased the foundation of a neigh
boring house which was wrecked. re
duced this underpinning to the origina
stones which formed 1t and then rese
these rocks in the walls of the addition
to his home which he raised. Ry EN-
ploying electric light extensions. Mr.
Evans prolonged his labors until ia,
after sunset each day.
| me manual work in the open ali
was refreshing and relaxing after the
| hard day in the motion picture labora
tory. =, And there was engendered 6
pride In building as the work pro
crossed.
Mr.. Evans laid double floor of oal
| In the living room of the cottage, re
moved all the original plaster and re
finished the walls and ceiling. He ha:
| secured remarkably effective ceilins
appearance by plastering between thu
| hand-hewn timbers and thus proluc
ing the most extraordinary sbeamet
ceiling in this latitude. Another meri
torious assignment was the job O.
doing over" the fireplace. Directl,
| in front of the brick faced fireplace
which was made almost two centurie,
! ago, he has added a stone face O
granite imbedded in concrete plaster
This attractive fireplace takes three
foot lengths of wood and is about foul
| feet deep.
| The fuel storage system of the re
vamped stone house is unusual Their,
is no basement under the house FOL
1 cfrn
built wood and coal compartment
outside. In each case small doc
gives ready access to the room wher,
the fuel is to be used The coal com
partment, made of concrete blocks
| accommodates one ton of coal. ]
/ adjoins the kitchen. where the hot
water heater is placed A small con
/ crete-lined chute, just large enough
for the coal shovel, links the storag,
bin with the heater. Open the small
door. thrust the shovel through tn,
opening pull it back and you have tn,
scoop Of fuel ready to fling into tn,
| firebox of the heater. The wood stor
age is directly outside the living room
i Open the small door and you have &C
cess to the small woodpile
Mr.. Evans has added a coy, com
Portable dining room. cemmodiou
4 hNASAAA~AAs - PoAAbA OAE@ C<AIAd DE0AOG1A
and a sleeping porch to the origina
/ cottage, SO that he now has a suitabl
| and satisfactory home for his famil.
of five. The addition has been made a
an accurate replica and annex OF tn,
4 pioneer construction, so that Ii dove
/ tails into the general arrangement 81
well that the entire house appears a.
4 though 1t were built as single unit
The dining room has a board and
batten ceiling. stained nut brown
while the wallis are plastered TIL
easement windows are set In wall
which are IL inches thick The add
ton, which is go by Ia feet ii
dimensions, has a concrete interio
and an external face of stone. TIL
roof Of the entire house is covere,
with six-inch cypress shingles Mr.
Evans tried to obtain handmad
shingles, but being unable to &c
satisfactory material of this type, h
finally used the heaviest cypres
Oh Lee, ,t<,1. I.