Tracking Hiram Waters

We have been out looking again at the houses Jane Radocchia took us to see earlier this week. One in particular, in North Bennington, looked certainly to have been built by our Hiram since the trim on the outside of the front door and on the corner pilasters looked so much like ours. As we drove by it again, we noticed that the garage door was open and a woman was inside.

Going on the "Nothing Ventured" premise, we stopped and told her of our interest in her house and why we thought it was probably build by "Uncle Hi." She invited us inside and VOILA! The exact trim as in our front room decorated her front room. Our first "discovery".

And the discovery became even more interesting when we learned that the owner is a painter, and a good one, who is involved with the plein air event held each year in North Bennington. Pat's ear's perked up at that news.

The top photo is of one of our windows. Notice the pyramid in the corners and the beveled pieces surrounding the window.  The lower one shows detail of the corner. This looks exactly like the molding in the house in North Bennington. 

Ha! We found the tracks of old Hiram for sure!

For those of you following our progress, I finished the write-up of the changes to our Dining Room. (Click here)

Shining Up the Tarnished Lady

Since we got to Bennington, our most frequent outings have been to Home Depot and Greenberg's Hardware. We have been trying to tame the dark kitchen and wildly wallpapered dining room and living room. See photos at the House Journal page.

By the time Amy Ness arrived driving our Volvo filled with paintings and dishes, we were ready to hang the paintings and fill the china cupboard with the Hadley pottery.

Pat has been working assiduously between rainstorms to improve the gardens around the house, rehoming plants we brought with us from White Wagon and adding sticker-shocking shrubs we've purchased from local nurseries.

We still need to do patching and painting to the exterior, replace the front porch and do something for the backporch area. We just don't know what, yet.

Along the way, we've learned a lot about the builder of the house (Hiram Waters) thanks to Tracy's exploring old diaries and deeds, and the extent of Hiram's skill thanks to Jane Griswold Radocchia, an architect with extensive knowledge of early Bennington. (see Jane's website: JGRArchitect.com )

Hiram Waters (1797 - 1890) in 1888. Take a look at those hands!

The more we look at other period houses, the more we learn about the architectural features of our old lady. And the more we learn about Hiram and his family, the more excited we are about having the opportunity to tend his legacy.

First Photos

The house is bigger than it looks from the front. All together, it is about 4000 square feet

From left to right, 2 car garage, main house with 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths, then the "shop" (now rental unit) with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths.

Probably the rental unit is older than the main house, since much of the original main house burned in the 1830s. The rental unit was the carpentry and joinery shop of Hiram Waters. He apparently used it to display some of his talents since the architectural details are much fancier than those on his house.

Below is a closer look at the details of the shop. You can't see it through the storm door, but the old door is split in half. A "Dutch door" some call it, with beautiful early 19th century hardware.

A New Love

It started with an online search site. I know. I have done my share of making fun of all the dating and matchmaking sites. But this was different. As soon as Tracy found the photos, I started to get interested.

I googled and searched for more information then spent hours looking at pictures and dreaming. It was a crazy, heady feeling. And even crazier, Pat felt it, too. Both of us, falling for a house we'd never seen in a town we barely knew.

But that was the beginning of our new adventure with the Hiram Waters House in Bennington, Vermont.

Check out the House Journal tab above for more pictures and information about our new venture.