Of note are multiple signatures etched in or written on the exterior of the house, some of which are identifiable as "Geo T Chrisman," "Conrade Custer...5th 1813," "Jos Custer September 1821," "Margaret A. Custer," "I + W," "J + G," "Hugh Chrisman August 27 1823," October 22, 1823," "Joseph Custer Oct 6 1823 his hand," "and "Evaline Custer."  

These inscriptions caused some confusion when initially discovered.  They were scratched into a thin, off-white layer on the stone surface and not into the stone itself.  It was already known that the house had received a 19th century stucco application, but how the signatures and dates were affixed beneath the stucco was a mystery.  The answer is an interesting one.  

The use of lime wash to provide an added layer of weather sealant and color uniformity is a well-known 18th and 19th century practice.  Most brick structures required it due to the difficulties in obtaining evenly colored bricks from yard kilns.  The practice of lime washing a stone structure in the Shenandoah Valley is lesser known, but was done, primarily as a weather sealant.  We have found no information to suggest that stone was painted for aesthetic value.  This explained why writing was found on a surface beneath the stucco, but not on the stone.  At one time the house was painted white with a lime wash.  When the house was covered in roughcast (stucco) circa 1823, the unintended result was the preservation of the writings that had been made into the lime wash.  When the roughcast was removed in the 1950s, what remained were areas of residual lime wash that contained many intact inscriptions.

Etched into a stone on the front of the main house is a single, six-point rosette that is approximately 2 inches in diameter.  The rosette is an ancient symbol of good luck and the most basic of the Germanic hex signs. 

In the course of restoration projects and excavations, the current owners have uncovered numerous articles dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, many from directly beneath the kitchen.  Found metalware objects include dozens of early wrought nails, iron chain and a perfectly preserved S-hook. Shards of redware pottery and blue decorated stoneware have been discovered as well as examples of early creamware and pearlware ceramics. Among the recovered ceramics are fragments of decorated handleless cups, pieces with Sprig-decoration, blue and purple transferware, and blue and green feather edge. Other articles include a tintype of an unidentified young man that was found under the attic stairs and a swirled clay marble that was recovered from inside the stone wall above the kitchen.     

Below photo, top: "S" or pot hook, bottom: Eye Joint.  The "S" hook hangs on the horizontal bar of a fireplace crane; the Eye Joint is driven into a wall to support the vertical rod of a fireplace crane.  Both of these items were dug up in the front yard approximately 8" below the surface.  Both are now in use in the kitchen cook fireplace.