Resources for Old Home Owners

Old Home Features

Gunstock Corners:

This is the popular term used to describe flared or splayed corner posts that resemble the stock of a gun in post and beam construction. Gunstock corners were a continuation of British framing construction continued from the 13th century and were a practical design for supporting the complex joint and weight born by these posts.

In post and beam house construction, there are four corner posts that sit on the framed sill, serving to support the second floor and roof structure. The flare is intentional as the top of the corner post has a complex joint that first holds the wall plates and girts (usually one long timber that runs the length of the house, the other running the width) securing the corner posts and forming a strong boxlike structure, and then supports the triangular roof frame. In two story houses, corner posts usually run the height of the building and have two flares, one at the first floor ceiling height supporting the second floor plates and girts, the other at the second supporting the plates, girts and roof.

To achieve this flare, trees were sawn turned on their heads with the thicker part of the tree trunk forming the top of the post. Commonly, the flare increases from 2 to 4 inches from bottom to top. In formal rooms, gunstock corners are usually covered by plaster and/or wood framing.

Indian Shutters:

Also known as privacy shutters or pocket shutters, the myth is that Indian shutters were built to protect occupants from Indian raids. In truth, these interior shutters, built to slide into a pocket behind the plaster wall, were used for protection but not from Indians. Shutters were used to protect occupants from cold drafts serving as insulation and retaining heat. They were also practical to protect valuable belongings from sun damage. They provided privacy and served to deter intruders. Shutters appeared in the 18th century when window treatments were uncommon. (Cotton cloth did not become widely available until the widespread use of the cotton gin in early to mid 19th century.)

There were three types of interior shutters, all vertically hinged. The first was a shutter that opened and folded to the sides of the window into the room. These were often removed later on as they occupied otherwise useful room space. Next, Indian, or pocket shutters, come in two forms. The first, one solid panel, slides on a grooved rail at the height of the chair rail. The second is composed of two panels, the bottom sliding on the grooved rail at the height of the chair rail, the second sliding on a grooved rail added at the meeting place of the two window sashes. These have also become rare as owners have tucked them behind the walls, and covered them over. The third type of interior shutter is the vertically hinged that opens to the sides, but is tucked into a recessed pocket in the window jamb built specifically for their storage. These are found more often in more elaborate homes and are likely to survive as they could be stored easily without taking up precious room space.

Wide Pine Floors:

Before the industrial period, the preparation of wood for construction and finish work was all done by hand. Old growth pine trees were plentiful and allowed woodsmen the ability to maximize the width of wood planking (ranging from 1-2 feet in width), thus minimizing the work they had to expend to cover a surface. Through the 18th century, floorboards ranged in size and in length, even within the same floor space. The goal was to use the smallest number of boards to cover the surface, thus requiring less preparation of individual boards. This means that in more formal rooms of this era, you may find that floorboards are narrower than in back or upstairs rooms, demonstrating the wealth of the owner who could afford to pay for the additional craftsmanship to have smaller sized floorboards.

Not until the early 1800s, with mechanization, did regular, narrower boards (4-6" in width) begin to be produced for flooring. Contrary to 18th century tastes, it has become popular to move very wide attic floorboards down to the main floor rooms as nowadays wider is more valuable, not narrower.

As for maintaining these old floors, they were either left unpainted and scrubbed with a mixture of sand and herbs, or lymewashed. Otherwise to facilitate their cleaning, it was common to oil paint them in a solid color, or to stencil them in a grand pattern, such as a checkerboard marble floor (black and white diagonal squares). They were never sanded and varnished.

You might have wondered why floorboards go in different directions. The diagram below depicts an example of an 18th century framing structure and shows how floorboards rested on joists and why the direction of floorboards changes from front to back.