It’s been awhile since I’ve posted so I thought I’d start with a garage/office update … the structure is done and most of the finish work is completed. There’s a still a little painting to do and the stairs need to be varnished, but the network is up and running and we’re good to go.

Triangle Window

We’ve received a lot of positive feedback about how well the new garage blends in with the house. What the average passerby doesn’t know is that there is a secret triangle window on the side of the new building that overlooks the courtyard in the back. It is a companion piece to the original triangle window in our sitting room. We couldn’t be happier with how it has turned out.

Stacked Wood Construction

The breezeway was finished last week. During the process, the carpenters removed some clapboard on the original house, revealing the underlying stacked wood construction.

Stacked wood construction appears to take the principles of log cabin building and apply them to “modern” building materials. This is essentially piling up 2-by-4 pieces of wood (the narrow way) for as high as you need to go. A testament to the abundance of wood in Vermont when the house was built.

When we bought it, we were told the house was built in 1827. It is on the national register of historic places, but then so are most of the houses in the village. At the closing, our title lawyer produced an impressive document wrapped in red ribbon and gold seals. I’m not sure what its significance was, apart from clearing up some minor lien issue, and we have not seen it since that day.

Our neighbor, J.P. Soule down at the other end Main Street told us that he saw our house on a village map dated in the 1780s. Furthermore, he asserted that our house was the first house built in Quechee and the only remaining one built with stacked wood. I don’t know how true those things may be. It’s one of those things I should research.