HOUSE AND GARDEN 
September, 1913 
surrounded by grass land, not laid down to lawns and flower¬ 
beds as they are to-day, but rolling and unkempt through lack of 
care. 
There were only four rooms and a hall in this little house. 
There was a diminutive porch at the front, most inartistic in con¬ 
struction, while the house itself, for the sake of economy, was 
painted a fiery red, with white trim. Under the direction of the 
late Philip B. Howard, and later of F. M. Wakefield, both of Bos¬ 
ton, the house was remodeled; the roof was torn off and replaced 
by a simple sloping farm¬ 
house type. For modern 
convenience, verandas and 
out-of-door porches have 
been added, but in such a 
way that they do not in¬ 
terfere with the general 
architecture. T h e house 
was built in 1647, an d to¬ 
day is an exact reproduc¬ 
tion of the type of houses 
built at that time. 
In the actual work of 
remodeling, the shingles 
of the old house were 
ripped off and replaced by 
new ones which were first 
dipped into a good liquid 
wood filler in order that 
they might wear better. 
The red paint was re¬ 
placed by Colonial yellow, 
which contrasted artisti¬ 
cally with the soft green 
of its surroundings. 
Instead of blinds, 
stout board shutters 
showing panels were 
put on the outside, 
and in the upper pan¬ 
el of each was cut a 
small diamond. This 
served two purposes: 
to make it more ef¬ 
fective, and to let in 
light when closed. 
The shutters were 
painted a dark green, 
while the trim of the 
porch and the veran¬ 
da was of white. 
The old porch was 
torn off and in its 
place was built an up- 
to-date Colonial one. 
On either side of the 
porch were built-in 
wooden settles which 
were painted white, to 
correspond with the 
color of the porch. Inside, the hallway was left intact, with the 
exception that the paper, about ten layers deep, was removed, and 
the walls were given a coat of fresh plaster, over which hung a 
reproduction of a Colonial wall-paper giving a landscape effect. 
If the owner had carried out the true type of that period, he would 
have found that papers were used that were most fantastic in 
effect, showing large figures, many of them out of proportion, and 
m bright colors. This line of papers, which is absolutely correct 
if one is considering correct wall hangings, would not have been 
effective in a small hallway such as this, but would have made it 
seem contracted and out of good taste. 
The woodwork was good all over the house, and the floors were 
in condition to be retained. To be sure, the painting, not only in 
the hallway but in every room of the house, was loud and showed 
poor taste. In treating this, it was scraped down to the original 
finish, thoroughly cleaned by the use of a plentiful supply of 
soap and water, and wiped dry and left to harden for several 
hours, because if damp¬ 
ness or moisture on the 
surface is painted it ends 
in making the new paint 
scale, crack or blister. 
A coat of paint was 
then put on and allowed 
to stand for twenty-four 
hours. Tt was then sand¬ 
papered to remove all 
gloss and make it smooth 
and even before the sec¬ 
ond coat was applied, care 
being taken not to have 
the paint too thick, so that 
it would lie unevenly and 
fill in the indentations 
where the wood was 
carved. 
The old floors were 
kept in the main house, 
but if new ones had been 
used they would have 
been best laid in either 
oak or hard pine, with 
the exception of the 
kitchen, where either 
hard pine or spruce 
would be preferable. 
The floors were 
scraped perfectly 
smooth and gone over 
with t u r p en tine, 
three-fourths of a pint 
to the pound, putting 
it on with a brush. 
This was done after 
the cracks were filled 
in with a mixture of 
paper that.had. .previ¬ 
ously been soaked in 
water afid mixed with 
putty, giving it a firm¬ 
ness that could not be 
obtained on any other 
way. \ A,’ v 
The kitchen floor 
was treated to a mix¬ 
ture made by one gal¬ 
lon of light paraffine 
oil brought to a boiling point and mixed with, a half pound of 
melted paraffine wax, the whole being stirred constantly until 
cool. This was put on with a brush and allowed to so'ak well into 
the wood, excess oil being rubbed off with a woolen cloth or floor 
brush. When it was dry, the process was repeated until a thor¬ 
oughly finished surface was obtained. By doing this the neces¬ 
sity for being re-oiled was avoided for several months, and as 
washing did not injure the surface, it proved a desirable finish 
The old bedroom furniture was in some cases scraped and repainted white. The. 
white enameled bedstead in this way is in keeping with the rest of the furnishing 
Old furniture has been renewed and is fittingly used in the bedrooms. H-hinges are used on 
the smaller doors and old-fashioned black hardware employed throughout 
