Main House, First Level
This is actually the view of the foyer as you look from the dining area. The door at center is not the front door! It is the door to the screen porch. The real front door is off to the right, directly facing the hutch visible at left.
The floor here is a six-sided brick laid in poured concrete. It's the only non-wood floor in the house (except the kitchen, and that has a wooden subfloor).
One of the unique features of the house is the original "phone booth" off the entry hall. We found a period phone and had it wired into the house's phone system, then added a comfy stool for long private conversations.
This is the view of the living room as you enter from the front hall. The room's dimensions are approximately 25 feet by 35 feet. The floors are the original random-width white oak, which were completely refinished prior to moving in. The built-in bookcases are fabulous! We used the fireplace a lot during the cooler weather that passed for Winter; adding a damper has helped reduce the heat loss.
According to a visitor who remembered the house when it was built, there used to be a coat of arms hanging over the fireplace. We found one of our own in a catalog!
The opposite side of the living room, with a comfortable conversation area. We used to have the dining table here (see the smaller picture below) but decided to shift things around a bit.
The view from the living room bay window is wonderful.
Two steps up from the living room is the dining area. The other end of the dining room has a set of French doors leading to a covered patio.
The kitchen is just off the dining room, through the original solid wood door (with a small peephole opening, to allow the servants to see whether the guests were ready for the next course!).
When we purchased the house, the kitchen was in terrible condition, so it was ripped out to the studs and completely rehabilitated.
The stove is a DCS 5-burner model, running on propane. The vent fan moves 650 CFM and has built-in warming lamps.
We are often asked why the kitchen is so small. We originally thought it was because
this wasn't originally a kitchen, but a butler's pantry that been turned into a
kitchen by a previous owner (one reason we thought this was because there was a
second full kitchen in the basement). A visitor set us straight and
told us that the white cabinets were the original cabinets (which made me
cringe for having torn them out) and that Clara Hyatt used to cook in this kitchen quite
often. The basement kitchen was a "summer kitchen", since it was
cooler down there.
The view from the opposite side of the kitchen, showing the butler's sink.
Across from this counter is the refrigerator, plus a long counter and upper cabinets.
Off the kitchen is the door to the carriage house, the stairs to the basement, and the back hallway back to the dining room.