Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Alive and kicking....




Okay, so it took me almost 8 months to recover my old blogger account and get back into the swing of things. Mea culpa. Mea culpa.


Now, onto the good stuff: 39-41 High Street (yes I still have this property listed...) might well be reclassified as partially first period. Sheet rock was removed from the two front rooms and some amazing finds for antique home afficianados include a Rumford fireplace, additional Georgian paneling in the two front rooms of the original saltbox. What appears to be the original lentil and chanfer beam in the hearth of one of the front rooms is still there pretty much in tact; although it does appear that there is a portion of the chanfer beam that was either removed by someone or by fire according to the charring marks. Matthew Cummings (Cummings Architects) was on hand at one of my showings to give exact and great detail to help buyers envision what this property was like and how it could be restored almost back to it's grandeur. Matthew painted the picture of what potentially was a home of a wealthy merchant. Matthew noted in his description of the chanfer beam that the grooves and beveling were unique to those in the upper class in England. A strikingly similiar first period home in Ipswich is our well-known Whipple House on the South Green in Ipswich.


Also uncovered were the original wide board flooring that was originally hand hewn from the trees (material is not pine but in fact a hardwood...I forget the exact kind at this moment but will post the information in my next posting).


Now we have commissioned Sue Nelson, who sits on the Ipswich Historical Commission's buildings committee, to research and prepare a report on the property to determine: (1) the exact age of the home; (2) who truly owned this home (Daniel Lummus may not be the original owner); and, (3) detail the historical significance of this property.


Check out the new pics on the website: www.39-41high.com

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