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HVVA
NEWSLETTER, August 2003 The John Bowne House Part Two, John Bowne House (Click on graphics for larger view) Stage II The house was lengthened
21-feet to the west, either circa 1680, if Stage I was built in the
1660s, or circa 1692 if Stage I was built in 1680. (**). It would
seem that the leanto, about 12-feet wide, was built across the back
(north side) of the house. Possibly a leanto of some kind predated
Stage II. In the last few years the north wall of the house was rebuilt
and the framing of the 17th century leanto was exposed. It was in
extremely deteriorated condition and was mostly, if not completely
replaced. Some framing elements from the east end of this north wall
were saved, and their replicated counterparts can be seen from inside
the leanto. The writer has not had access to drawings, photographs
or reports describing and illustrating what was found and cannot express
an opinion whether the leanto was all built at one time, or in stages. The main part of the addition would appear to be constructed
in the Dutch H-bent system, but the framing is so completely concealed
that one can only surmise what happens under paneled and plastered
surfaces. On the north end of the second bent from the west end there
is a curved soffit anchor beam brace (corbel brace) protruding through
a paneled wall. The writer's suspicion is that all the interior anchor
beams originally had braces and they were removed in Stage III except
for this one survivor. Horizontal timbers are set between south rafters II
and III of the Stage II part, and Rafters I and II of the Stage I
part. These are placed on their diagonals and are presumably gained
into the rafters. Flats are cut into them to receive horizontal timbers
that projected outward and may have been hoisting beams or perhaps
ridge timbers for dormers. The projecting timbers were pinned to the
bearers into which they were lodged. As noted in Stage I, in Stage
II the roof was boarded with 5/8-inch thick mill sawn oak boards,
and there are clearly defined holes in this boarding for the hoisting
beam/ridge timbers, whichever they were. Stage III The house was drastically
remodeled circa 1750 at which time it achieved, essentially, its present
appearance from the south. The existing chimney stack was removed
and replaced with the existing one that has two fireplaces on the
first and two on the second floors. The Stage I and II door and window units were discarded.
The present front door, although it has been modified, retains its
original wood-muntined transom. New double-hung sash units were installed.
The original frames of the two windows of the south wall west of the
doorway, and the west window in the main room remain in place. These
windows originally had 12 over 12 sash. The three shed roofed dormers
with mullioned windows on the south slope of the roof replaced the
Stage II dormers. The window frame in the west wall of the leanto
does not appear to be original. An early 19th century lithograph (circa
1820) shows a granary door in the west wall of the house on the second
floor within the leanto. The stair hall remains in essentially original condition.
The east main room has a partially paneled fireplace wall, mostly
it is of vertical tongue-and-groove boarding. It originally had plastered
walls and ceiling. The Stage I partition was removed and a new one
constructed about 18-inches to the east. At the north end of it, facing
into the large room, is a china cupboard of 18th century date which
may be original to this location, but may also have come from another
location. The interior of this room is heavily disturbed in an attempt
to restore it to an earlier appearance in the 20th century. Stage IV The construction of
the east (kitchen) fits the beginning of Stage IV (circa 1800 to 1810).
It was seemingly built to include a pre-existing fireplace and bake
oven that may date to Stage III. The kitchen wing was expanded in
width, possibly circa 1840. A leanto was built across the east end
of the kitchen wing, putting the bake oven dome under cover. The Historic American Building Survey drawings of the
house, prepared in 1936 (17-sheets plus 31 photographs) record the
house as it was after Stage N alterations and show it essentially
as it remains today. Gordon William Fulton, a student at the Graduate School
of Architecture, Planning and Historic Preservation at Columbia University
in 1981 produced a "Historic Structures Report" for the
Bowne house. This consists of 206-pages, and is especially valuable
for the historical documentation it supplies on the house. The following
appendices derived from John Bowne's records supply interesting informationa1about
17th century building technology. They have been freely transcribed
by the writer. APPENDICES Appendix I A Barn - March 12,
1665/6 (*) In early contracts, width of
barns is often given as the width of the center aisle that is the
length of the anchorbeam. The"side aisles are assumed to be 9
or l0-feet. John Bowne's barn would measure about 40-feet in width
but probably a foot or two less in length than width. Bowne does not
specify the number of bays but they were probably three. This 4-page report has been edited from the 10-page
original. It was prepared for the Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture
Newsletter, August 2003, Vol. 5 No., 8. Copies of the full to-page
report will soon be available for $3, write Copyright © 2004. Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture. All rights reserved. All items on the site are copyrighted. While we welcome you to use the information provided on this web site by copying it, or downloading it; this information is copyrighted and not to be reproduced for distribution, sale, or profit.
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