P (610) 775-3624
C (610)-207-5447
Pembroke Labradors
We traced the history of the property back to the 1790s to the first
recorded deed. The house was originally a small one-room log
cabin, now a portion of the kitchen. The logs can be seen if
you crawl under the kitchen and were exposed when we removed a
window in the kitchen for access from the kitchen into the enclosed
front porch area. The small log cabin must have had, at one
point, an outside kitchen on the back with a large walk-in
fireplace. This small outside kitchen was included into the
inside kitchen area as well as another small area to create the
kitchen area that exists today. The kitchen area is believed
to have had a low ceilinged sleeping loft area above it. At
some point in time, the log walls were encased in stone and stone
walls completely surrounded the cabin. The inside walls and ceiling
of the kitchen are wide wood boards over plaster made of mud/clay
and animal hair/straw applied to the inside the stone walls.
You are probably wondering what became of the original large walk-in fireplace . . .we did too. The home inspector who ventured into the crawl space under the kitchen said the original lentel is still there as is the chimney. The inspector said, at one time, there was a fire in the chimney, evidenced in the attic space where the stone was removed to put the fire out. The fireplace today has wooden doors and shelving and is a large pantry; but, the inspector revealed that at one point it was an inside "wash room" <clears throat> . . . toilet which actually drained into the back yard (yuck!).
The story continues with the addition of a room off the kitchen (the living room), a tight winding staircase (open to the living room), and the roof of the house lifted to add a full height second floor. A neighbor spoke to a person years ago who actually witnessed the lifting of the roof to add the full upper level. Stone outside walls incase this addition and were blended into the existing stone walls to create a solid stone home with 27-inch thick stone walls from the ground (including the exposed basement walls) to the roof.
The basement area is another story all onto itself, with an original shower in the corner of the one basement room which, we are told, was common before inside plumbing in order to shower off the days work dirt before coming up into the living portion of the home. There is a spring room in the basement where water was brought into the home from a larger underground spring house that still exists today under the back patio accessible from the pond. The pond expert we used to restore the pond area was brave enough to venture inside and reported that there are two original gravity type pumps; one of which is still operating and pumping water down to our neighbors property at the bottom of the lane. The inside spring room now contains the well equipment and water filitration/purification equipment. It is lined with shelving which we surmise was the cold storage before refrigerators.
We continue to find secrets as we slowly get to know the property, including the orginal stone lined well with small, low stone enclosure above it; the entrance covered with a heavy, thick slab of metal. The same pond expert again very bravely scooted on his belly inside the well covering for a look down into the well. Water from this well feeds the swimming pool through a gravity hose. In all, the pond expert found five springs on the property.
You are probably wondering what became of the original large walk-in fireplace . . .we did too. The home inspector who ventured into the crawl space under the kitchen said the original lentel is still there as is the chimney. The inspector said, at one time, there was a fire in the chimney, evidenced in the attic space where the stone was removed to put the fire out. The fireplace today has wooden doors and shelving and is a large pantry; but, the inspector revealed that at one point it was an inside "wash room" <clears throat> . . . toilet which actually drained into the back yard (yuck!).
The story continues with the addition of a room off the kitchen (the living room), a tight winding staircase (open to the living room), and the roof of the house lifted to add a full height second floor. A neighbor spoke to a person years ago who actually witnessed the lifting of the roof to add the full upper level. Stone outside walls incase this addition and were blended into the existing stone walls to create a solid stone home with 27-inch thick stone walls from the ground (including the exposed basement walls) to the roof.
The basement area is another story all onto itself, with an original shower in the corner of the one basement room which, we are told, was common before inside plumbing in order to shower off the days work dirt before coming up into the living portion of the home. There is a spring room in the basement where water was brought into the home from a larger underground spring house that still exists today under the back patio accessible from the pond. The pond expert we used to restore the pond area was brave enough to venture inside and reported that there are two original gravity type pumps; one of which is still operating and pumping water down to our neighbors property at the bottom of the lane. The inside spring room now contains the well equipment and water filitration/purification equipment. It is lined with shelving which we surmise was the cold storage before refrigerators.
We continue to find secrets as we slowly get to know the property, including the orginal stone lined well with small, low stone enclosure above it; the entrance covered with a heavy, thick slab of metal. The same pond expert again very bravely scooted on his belly inside the well covering for a look down into the well. Water from this well feeds the swimming pool through a gravity hose. In all, the pond expert found five springs on the property.
