Above photo of George Chrisman House taken circa 1948, prior to the start of exterior restoration which included removal of stucco to reveal the stone. This view from the south shows a front porch on the main house, and a log cabin that stood just a few feet to the south of the kitchen.
The photo below is looking to the east, at the back of the house. Notice the opening in the stone wall on the left. This is the north wall that had almost entirely collapsed. The wall was rebuilt by a local stonemason between 1948 and 1956. The smaller attached structure to the right of the main house is the cook house/winter kitchen. The kitchen's upstairs window is no longer accessible because when the the roof was lowered, the window opening was concealed with stone. To the extreme right in this picture you can see the remains of the log cabin.
A photo of the front:
The two photos below show the house after the major exterior restorations were completed around 1956.
20th CENTURY RESTORATIONS
1948-1956 (see photos above)
In 1948 the stone house, which had never seen electricity or indoor plumbing, was in serious disrepair, both inside and out. The plan was to restore it for use as a Kline family residence, but there was major work ahead.
Renovations soon began on the exterior, with significant projects such as removing the stucco that covered every inch of stone, rebuilding the entire north wall, and replacing the dilapidated wooden front porch with a newly constructed stone and wood portico.
For reasons that are unknown to the current owners, the roof of the attached stone cook house/winter kitchen was lowered during this restoration period, resulting in the loss of the upstairs window/door openings.
Unfortunately, in order to prepare the property for residential use, the remains of the early log cabin that stood just a few feet south of the kitchen was razed during this period. There was also a vain attempt to level out the millrace at this time, but the idea was eventually aborted after endless truckloads of fill dirt failed to make a considerable impact.
Plans change, and in 1956 the partially restored stone house was sold to another hopeful couple who planned to complete the restoration and use the home as a residence for their family of five.
1956-2002 (see photos below)
The work on the exterior of the house was now complete, but extensive interior restoration was required before the house was inhabitable. The majority of this work was done during the 1960s and 1970s. The photographs below show the condition of some of the rooms before and during some of the initial work on the interior. Click here to see additional photos of the kitchen cook fireplace during this period.
Various modifications were necessary to modernize the home. The kitchen was equipped with new appliances and conveniences, floorboards were taken from the attic to complete the flooring in the main living areas, fireplaces were concealed behind walls or rebuilt, walls were altered to make way for closets and bathrooms and to extend the main living space on the lower level, stairs and windows were replaced or repaired, the interior was freshly painted, and countless other projects required attention. The homeowner did much of the woodwork himself, fashioning several built-in bookcases and cabinets. By the 1970s, the owners had created a beautiful Colonial Williamsburg-inspired home, which they affectionally dubbed "Mill Meadow."
When Kline family members visited the house again in 2006, they recalled the three-on-three floor plan before it had been altered, as well as a right-to-left winding staircase that once led to the room above the kitchen. By September 2002 when the current owners first toured the house no staircase was present; in its place was a tiny half bathroom. The condition and disposition of the staircase is a mystery.
This first photo shows the corner fireplaces on the first level of the main house. The window seen on the left is now a door that leads to the sympathetic addition. The fireplace on the right is in the study - it is a functional wood-burning fireplace today.
The next three photos are of an upstairs bedroom on the west / back of the house. This fireplace is one of the two back-to-back corner fireplaces - there is a bedroom on the opposite side of this wall. The fireplace was covered over during the 1960s and it is still concealed today. The Pinnells plan to open it back up again - one of many projects for the future. This mantel was moved to one of the other upstairs bedrooms.
Another view of the same room as above.
The same room as above - the fireplace has now been walled over.
The next two photos are of the main living room on the first floor. This is the largest room of the three-on-three floor plan. The green paint is early 19th century and there are traces of an earlier blue color beneath the green. In the 1960s these walls were painted over with a Colonial Williamsburg light green paint color. The dark border at the base of the wall is a simulated wash board or mop board, an early 18th century practice. In 2003-2004 these walls were stripped of 20th century paint to once again reveal the early paint colors. Notice the paint on the ceiling beams.
The doorway to the right leads to the kitchen. The grain-painted door on the left leads down to the cellar. During the 1970s or 80s, this interior cellar door was removed and a recessed bookcase was installed in its place. Thankfully the door was stored in the attic and as of January 2004 the door is back where it belongs. The large beam across the ceiling is a summer beam, a major structural component to the house. Another summer beam spans the floor above.
This next picture is of the same room, looking more to the left. The window is on the front of the house. The enclosed winding staircase leads to the second floor, and from the second floor, another winding staircase, also behind a door, leads to the attic. The door shown here has an early beautiful blue paint that is unfortunately not shown in this black and white photo. This was painted over with a light green paint color in the 1960s, but the current owners have already stripped one side so that when the door is closed, the blue is shown. Today, this room showcases early 18th and 19th century paint colors and techniques.
The house had been without electricity or indoor plumbing, and so this upstairs bathroom was built to ready the house for occupancy. The window looks out from the back of the house. This alteration modified the original floor plan by cutting into the large room on the south side. The large room was further reduced by the addition of a closet within the room as well as a closet in the hallway. In fall 2008, current owner Dan Pinnell completely remodeled this bathroom, which by that point was 40 years old.
An exterior photo from the 1960s-70s. On the ground is a wheel from Shaver Mill.
All photos shown here were given to Dan and Susan Pinnell by former owner, M. R. Holm.
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