Melwood Park - Structure History - Exterior

Exterior

The 1713–1714 dwelling was a timber framed structure approximately 39 feet (12 m), 6 inches by 20 feet (6.1 m), with an ell of equal size situated on the north side. This first dwelling was one and a half stories. This dwelling had an riven oak clapboard roof sheathing, a 17:12 pitched roof and likely clapboard siding. No drawings of the original structure have been located, nor are there references to this building in land records. However, the evidence of this original structure is present in the dwelling today.

Further dendrochronology performed in the roof structure indicated that significant changes were made to the building between 1767 and 1768. These changes include; extending the dwelling on the east by 6 feet (1.8 m) and on the west by 12 feet (3.7 m), extending the loft to a full story across the south facade only, the addition of two outward flanking chimney stacks, encasing the south facing facade with brick nogging and a veneer brick, adding 16/16 common sliding sash windows of the first floor and 9/9 common sliding sash windows on the second floor. The veneer brick and addition of solid masonry were set in an artful Flemish bond pattern with glazed headers, queen course and oyster shell lime mortar with a grapevine joint. During this expansion it is assumed that the northward ell was not modified, however this portion of the building was removed in a subsequent renovation likely to have occurred circa 1897.