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In
1836 when John Devotion Bidwell ( Rev. Bidwell's grandson ) inherited
the family property, the attributes of the farm were proudly listed as;
" apple, peach, and plum trees, along with a well of water
enclosed in the dwelling house, three large barns, a cider mill with
a corn house over it, and a wood house, as well as a number of other
buildings, sheds, etc."
Of
these buildings, (besides
the main house) only two remain as part of The Bidwell House property.
The Wood House stands directly to the south, below the front of the
house. This is a relatively small early 19th century structure.
The construction is post & beam, made from hand -hewn chestnut.
As was often the case with farm buildings, there is evidence that some
of the beams had been used in another building. Sheathed with rough sawn
clapboards, it once sported a wood shingled roof that at some point
after 1915 was covered with asphalt shingles.
Although intended as a Wood House for storing firewood, sometime
in the building's history it was used to house horses.
The
years showed signs of upkeep; some windows had been replaced, the sill
was replaced, etc. However, poor roof jobs allowed moisture, and
eventually, rot to set in and a hole developed on the south side of the
roof. In addition, a birch seedling was allowed to grow out from the
foundation, developing into a large tree and doing considerable damage
in the process. In the winter of 1995/96, as a result of several very
heavy snowstorms, the roof caved in splitting the few remaining rafters
and cracking the main girt.
In
the spring of 1996, the museum embarked on the first phase of the
Building Restoration Project, restoring the Wood House. Once again, West Cummington Stone and Wood came in with the lowest estimate.
WCSW was the firm that restored the chimney and mantle ( see newsletter
Summer 1996 ). The restoration was completed in 3 weeks. It included
replacing the main girt with a matching hand-hewed one and replacing the
knee braces supporting it, replacing the joists and installing the floor
of the loft, repairing rotted sections of the plate on the south side of
the building, replacing the roof with all new rafters and cedar wood
shingles, rebuilding the stone foundation on the south side using the
original stone, cutting out the sill which crossed the entrance of the
building and reusing that piece to replace the portion of sill rotted
due to the tree, restoring and replacing damaged windows and rotted
clapboards, and staining replacement boards to match the existing
finish.
In
addition, the building was fitted with a set of new doors. There was no
evidence the building had doors and an existing photo, c. 1915, shows no
doors. However, doors were
included as part of the project to facilitate the housing of rare breed
sheep which are in the plans for the museum. The doors are a 'z'-backed,
tongue and groove design found on many 19th century barns and they are
held with large antique iron hinges.
To
complete the project, a ladder was fashioned from two hand-hewn 4 x 4 's
and rungs made on site with a draw blade. The ladder is to access the
loft. The entire cost for this project was $ 8,169 and the result is a
well restored, secure barn which will continue to attest to the farming
history of The Bidwell House for generations to come.
(A
special thanks to David Boland and Noah Wixom for volunteering their
time and equipment to remove the large Black Birch tree which grew from
underneath the sill, shifting the building and causing considerable rot.
)
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