A few years back I was a guest in a house near New London. From the outside all seemed normal, an ordinary Chester County stone farmhouse. Upon entering the front door, however. I found myself in a hallway that ran along the front of the house. I was led across the hallway into the main room of the house. It was a large room, about 25-30 feet square that served as a living room, a dining room, a fine place to have guests. The original log construction was plainly visible. I was told the original farmhouse was a log cabin, dating from the 1700's. At one time the owners had simply built a stone house around and above it. Maybe not typical but there it was. Going back a bit further, when I was real young I lived in an old farm house in New Castle County. It had been built in three stages. First, a log cabin, about 20-25 feet square. One room, with a huge fireplace. A closet next to the fireplace contained a narrow winding staircase that went to a second story. There were two very small rooms, one with a small fireplace. Second, a stone addition added to the rear of the log cabin. It was three floors with a roof that covered the log cabin also. There were fireplaces in each room. Third, a frame addition on one side of the original log part. No fireplaces. Two floors and a narrow stairway in a closet. A small room was added in the angle of the ell, that was the kitchen. The bathroom was at the end of an upstairs hallway, between the original log section and the stone wing. I do not know the timeline for the different stages of construction. There was a basement under all three sections. The house was built on the side of a hill. The ground floor of the stone wing was the level for the basement of the other two parts. The joists for the main floor were logs, bark still adhering. Under the log section was a huge structure that I always assumed was a fireplace. I found out later it was the base of the chimney. The frame wing basement was divided into small rooms for a laundry and miscellaneous storage. The ground floor of the stone wing was basement, workshop , etc. The builder used flax straw and horse hair as binders in the mortar in the basement walls. The original owner bought over 900 acres of land from Letitia Penn in 1740. Why he built his house in that spot is anybodies guess. Maybe he dug a cave in the hillside and later expanded it. An archaeologist from the U of DEL told me the flax and horsehair were typical building materials for that time period. C. A. Weslager, a local historian, was invited to inspect it before it was torn down, but he declined. He said he was familiar with the house and it was typical for the time and place. My goal has not been to explain where the children slept, but to describe two examples of local building techniques.

Great history and informative story John. It causes me to ask ...why would they tear down such a historic old house??? Alan -----Original Message----- From: pa-old-chester-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:pa-old-chester-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of johnmichen@comcast.net Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2012 11:36 PM To: PA-OLD-CHESTER-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [PaOldC] Where did the children sleep? A few years back I was a guest in a house near New London. From the outside all seemed normal, an ordinary Chester County stone farmhouse. Upon entering the front door, however. I found myself in a hallway that ran along the front of the house. I was led across the hallway into the main room of the house. It was a large room, about 25-30 feet square that served as a living room, a dining room, a fine place to have guests. The original log construction was plainly visible. I was told the original farmhouse was a log cabin, dating from the 1700's. At one time the owners had simply built a stone house around and above it. Maybe not typical but there it was. Going back a bit further, when I was real young I lived in an old farm house in New Castle County. It had been built in three stages. First, a log cabin, about 20-25 feet square. One room, with a huge fireplace. A closet next to the fireplace contained a narrow winding staircase that went to a second story. There were two very small rooms, one with a small fireplace. Second, a stone addition added to the rear of the log cabin. It was three floors with a roof that covered the log cabin also. There were fireplaces in each room. Third, a frame addition on one side of the original log part. No fireplaces. Two floors and a narrow stairway in a closet. A small room was added in the angle of the ell, that was the kitchen. The bathroom was at the end of an upstairs hallway, between the original log section and the stone wing. I do not know the timeline for the different stages of construction. There was a basement under all three sections. The house was built on the side of a hill. The ground floor of the stone wing was the level for the basement of the other two parts. The joists for the main floor were logs, bark still adhering. Under the log section was a huge structure that I always assumed was a fireplace. I found out later it was the base of the chimney. The frame wing basement was divided into small rooms for a laundry and miscellaneous storage. The ground floor of the stone wing was basement, workshop , etc. The builder used flax straw and horse hair as binders in the mortar in the basement walls. The original owner bought over 900 acres of land from Letitia Penn in 1740. Why he built his house in that spot is anybodies guess. Maybe he dug a cave in the hillside and later expanded it. An archaeologist from the U of DEL told me the flax and horsehair were typical building materials for tha! t time period. C. A. Weslager, a local historian, was invited to inspect it before it was torn down, but he declined. He said he was familiar with the house and it was typical for the time and place. My goal has not been to explain where the children slept, but to describe two examples of local building techniques. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PA-OLD-CHESTER-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message