By Don Linebaugh and Melissa Butler
Although Bostwick’s stable currently stands as a single structure, it wasn’t always so (Fig. 1). Shortly after the construction of the main house in 1746, work began on several outbuildings. Built as the home for a wealthy merchant, Bostwick was a hub of activity in the newly formed town of Bladensburg. The two different types of foundations under the stable suggest multiple building events; a layered stone foundation supports the West side of the stable and a stone pier foundation supports the East side (Fig. 2). If it was built as one unit, the foundation would be uniform across the whole structure. Thus, these exposed foundations allow us to “read” that the building evolved from one then two outbuildings, and then those were connected. (Fig. 3).
The two different foundation types tell us that originally, there were two separate structures. Further evidence is found inside, as two different frame types are evident. Figure 4 shows a post that has hewing marks. In the eighteenth century, hand hewing was a primary method of squaring round logs for use as posts (Fig. 5). Although posts could be further refined, the rough surface left from hewing is appropriate for use in an outbuilding. A mortise in one post near the ceiling on the first floor and a tenon at the top of one of the posts further suggests an eighteenth-century date for this building (Fig. 6). The East end of the stable has a frame of sawn members, rather than hewn. This indicates a slightly later construction date than the section on the West. Outside, the lack of foundation between the continuous, non-coursed stone foundation and the stone piers corroborates the idea that these were separate buildings. The two sections were connected by a center aisle, made from sawn, dimensional lumber indicating an even later date.
According to the documentary history of Bostwick prepared by John Milner Associates for the Town of Bladensburg in 2007, “at the end of the eighteenth century, the Bostwick property contained the house, a separate kitchen, a carriage house, a wash house, a hen house, a meat house and a milk house (both constructed of brick), and a store room.” These two separate outbuildings may have been among those listed above, as their framing and foundations are constant with eighteenth- to early nineteenth-century construction. As time went on and need arose for a larger structure, the two buildings were connected (See Fig 7 and 6).The milled dimensional lumber connection is late nineteenth to early twentieth-century and indicates that the two outbuildings were connected at this time. At the same time, a new gambrel roof was built connecting the buildings into a single structure. This was likely added by James Kyner after he bought Bostwick in 1904. He was responsible for adding the large porch at the front of the main house and updating the house in the popular Colonial Revival fashion. Missing from this evolutionary picture, however, was any idea of the original roof pitch of the two outbuildings that would later make up the the stable.
Evidence of the original roof pitch on the eastern of the two original outbuildings was discovered when a group of students noticed a diagonal cut in siding above one of the corner posts (Fig 2, and detail in Fig 3). The tenon on this sawn post shows the eighteenth to nineteenth-century frame work and original joinery of this section of the barn, consistent with the other corner posts of this section (See Fig. 7). The cut in the siding is at about a 45 degree angle, indicating a medium-sloped pitch on the front-gabled structure. Above the angled seam, additional wooden blocks have been added for leveling; in order to raise the height of the new roof, newer elements have been fit into the older frame members to minimize the removal of original fabric. Elsewhere in the construction of Bostwick we have seen evidence of material reuse, and the choice not to strip away unnecessary parts of the second-story wall for the sake of a uniform appearance is testament to reuse and economic application of time and material.
The two different foundation types tell us that originally, there were two separate structures. Further evidence is found inside, as two different frame types are evident. Figure 4 shows a post that has hewing marks. In the eighteenth century, hand hewing was a primary method of squaring round logs for use as posts (Fig. 5). Although posts could be further refined, the rough surface left from hewing is appropriate for use in an outbuilding. A mortise in one post near the ceiling on the first floor and a tenon at the top of one of the posts further suggests an eighteenth-century date for this building (Fig. 6). The East end of the stable has a frame of sawn members, rather than hewn. This indicates a slightly later construction date than the section on the West. Outside, the lack of foundation between the continuous, non-coursed stone foundation and the stone piers corroborates the idea that these were separate buildings. The two sections were connected by a center aisle, made from sawn, dimensional lumber indicating an even later date.
According to the documentary history of Bostwick prepared by John Milner Associates for the Town of Bladensburg in 2007, “at the end of the eighteenth century, the Bostwick property contained the house, a separate kitchen, a carriage house, a wash house, a hen house, a meat house and a milk house (both constructed of brick), and a store room.” These two separate outbuildings may have been among those listed above, as their framing and foundations are constant with eighteenth- to early nineteenth-century construction. As time went on and need arose for a larger structure, the two buildings were connected (See Fig 7 and 6).The milled dimensional lumber connection is late nineteenth to early twentieth-century and indicates that the two outbuildings were connected at this time. At the same time, a new gambrel roof was built connecting the buildings into a single structure. This was likely added by James Kyner after he bought Bostwick in 1904. He was responsible for adding the large porch at the front of the main house and updating the house in the popular Colonial Revival fashion. Missing from this evolutionary picture, however, was any idea of the original roof pitch of the two outbuildings that would later make up the the stable.
Evidence of the original roof pitch on the eastern of the two original outbuildings was discovered when a group of students noticed a diagonal cut in siding above one of the corner posts (Fig 2, and detail in Fig 3). The tenon on this sawn post shows the eighteenth to nineteenth-century frame work and original joinery of this section of the barn, consistent with the other corner posts of this section (See Fig. 7). The cut in the siding is at about a 45 degree angle, indicating a medium-sloped pitch on the front-gabled structure. Above the angled seam, additional wooden blocks have been added for leveling; in order to raise the height of the new roof, newer elements have been fit into the older frame members to minimize the removal of original fabric. Elsewhere in the construction of Bostwick we have seen evidence of material reuse, and the choice not to strip away unnecessary parts of the second-story wall for the sake of a uniform appearance is testament to reuse and economic application of time and material.