It Pays - Part 3

A while after we moved in, we received a large envelope in the mail from the state historical society. It contained copies of a  number of documents: the first floor plan (pictured), the original building permit, original building inspection report, and a summary list of the building permits pulled for the home over its first 50 years or so.

It also contained a note from the sender saying that he'd been asked to gather this information and send it to us.  The originator of that request was another long-time family friend and, now, neighbor.  Yet another kind and generous act that we hope to pay forward to someone else someday.

I suspect this first floor plan was a proposal, not the final blueprint as-built.  There are a number of differences from what exists today.  Most of the differences are either too major structurally or there's no evidence that the building has been modified.

The drawing doesn't show the curved walls opposite the door in the Reception Room.  The curved wall on the left side of the drawing is match by a curved wall on the right side of the room.

The largest difference is in the main staircase.  The drawing shows a double step up from the main hall, a double-sided fireplace adjoining the library, and that the stairs start on the bottom in the drawing.  The first two don't exist and the latter is the opposite of as-built.

In the Library, there's only one entrance - the one set on the bias at the lower left of the drawing.  The fireplace is on the opposite wall and the lower right corner is the doorway to the half bath under the stair landing.

In the as-built state, the doorway to the back hall and the main hall closet are a few feet further down the drawing.  This is because the doorway between the dining room and serving pantry is in a different place.

The back hall closet is on the opposite side of the hall, pushing the back stair closer to the back wall of the house.  At one point there was a door entering where the ice box is shown.  I suspect that it was actually the servant's entrance because it would have lead directly to the real kitchen in the basement.

In the 1980s, the previous owners removed the wall between the Serving Pantry and Kitchen, making one larger kitchen space and removing the working kitchen in the basement.

Lastly, the front porch doesn't match what we know was built.  And the rear porch stairs go straight off the back opposite the back door, which makes sense based on the locations of the carriage houses, rather than off the left side in the drawing.