Creating a Period Tone in Your Modern Home

~~Samuel Daggett  (1723 - 1798)  was with my friend Al and I in spirit~~

Letter writing in colonial times.

There is no serious history or factual information in this week's Passion for the Past posting.  In fact,  it is more of a personal notation of something I worked on and created over the past couple of weekends that I'm quite proud of.  I pretty much followed the idiom of  "If at first you don't succeed, try try again"  to help make a dream sort of come true.

But never fear;  more postings on reenactments and everyday life history are forthcoming!

In the meantime...

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It was twenty years ago,  back in 1999,  that my wife and I put an addition onto our 1944 suburban-Detroit bungalow.  At one point we had planned to move and find the house of our dreams:  something old - preferably from the 19th century or earlier - with maybe a bit of land to boot.  With me visiting historic Greenfield Village quite often over the last thirty five-plus years and drooling at the beautiful everyday-life homes of the past,  from the 1600s through the early 20th century,  owning a historic house has been a dream of mine and my wife since our first date.  And I would return to my own modern home feeling all down and depressed because I wanted to still be immersed in the past....living in one of those old houses at the Village.
So that's when we figured it would be very agreeable for us to purchase one that had some history behind it.  Alas,  it wasn't to be,  for we got sticker-shock upon checking out the prices of our dream homes.
Big time.
Yes,  we did come to realize that we could never afford what we really wanted.  However,  I saw an advertisement in the local paper about not selling your home but,  rather,  building an addition by the affordable way of re-mortgaging  (we are not well-to-do by any means).
And that got me to thinking...what if I put on an addition to my house,  but to my  specifications?  I knew what I wanted in style and decor',  so I needed to find a builder who was willing to work with me and my ideas.  I did find one,  after only a few interviews.  And at a fair price,  too.
We based the design of our new room on the combination of two separate rooms from two separate structures inside Greenfield Village - the front parlor of the Birthplace of Henry Ford,  and the ladies parlor from inside the Eagle Tavern  (with a little bit of Firestone Farm thrown in).

This is a panoramic view of the Ford parlor,  circa 1876.  The 
three walls in the above photo look flat,  because panoramic pictures 
will do that, but it does show what we were attempting to accomplish 
in our new addition.

 And now the Ladies Parlor inside the Eagle Tavern.

The Ladies Parlor  (or Gathering Room)  of the Eagle Tavern.

Since we cannot physically enter the room in the above picture,  for there is a barrier in the doorway preventing entrance,  I could not do a panoramic shot,  but the idea of what I was trying to do is there.
So,  this is what we came up with for our new addition:

Welcome to our own version of a mid-to-late 19th century parlor.

Most of the furniture are real antiques that we've acquired over the years.  The fireplace is not real  (that would have added thousands of dollars more to our already tight remortgage-the-house budget),  but was a gift from my mother.  The house I grew up in had two fireplaces and my mom always felt that every home should have at least one.  But it looks almost real,  doesn't it?
Here's another angle - - -

Here is another picture taken a few years after the previous pic.
I sepia'd it up a bit to give a more period feel.  Many of our friends call it the  "Greenfield Village room."
Here is the same picture in color:

~Victoriana~

This became the room in which we entertained our friends and family,  whether it was during a holiday such as Easter or Christmas,  or just having people over.  And,  for a number of years,  our Civil War reenacting civilians would attend our annual meeting here while in period clothing.
It was everything I hoped it to be...and more.
Well,  as you may know,  though I have a strong interest in Victorian America,  my true passion for America's past lies deeply and steeply in the colonial period - the 1760s and 1770s.  That's not to say I don't love the 19th century as well.  I do and always have.  But there's something about that late colonial/early Republic era that has engulfed me since my youth.
So here we are in 2019 - twenty years after the addition was originally built,  and as much as I love my Greenfield Village room,  it was time for a change.  Not a big change,  mind you.  But something that can satisfy both of my history passions of the 1770s and the 1860s.  It was when I was visiting the Henry Ford Museum,  as I was looking at a timeline of historic kitchens,  that I had an idea...an epiphany  rather:

It was while I was gazing at this 1840s kitchen located in the    
"Kitchens Through Time"  exhibit when my inspiration hit.

"Kitchens Through Time"  is an exhibit of,  well,  four kitchens - one from the later part of the 1700s,  one from the 1840s  (as seen above),  one from the 1890s,  and one from the 1930s - all back to back to back to back where the corners meet to form a circle,  allowing the viewer to easily see the noticeable changes over a 200+ year period at a few step glance.
This 1840s kitchen,  though a half-century into the future from the 1700s,  still had that strong colonial feel to it.  And I wanted something like this in my own home.  Not necessarily a kitchen,  mind you.  But a room in this same style...

For sale in Ohio...

Jump ahead two days after the Museum visit and a friend posted a home listing on my Facebook page.  It was a saltbox/breakback house built in the late 1600s,  and it was for sale in,  get this,  Ohio.  It was removed to Ohio from Connecticut a couple of decades ago and,  boy!  let me tell you,  if I had money to spend,  you can bet this house,  pictured left,  would be mine!  I mean,  the 1750 Daggett house inside Greenfield Village is built in the same style  (and happens to be my favorite house inside that open-air museum),  so to purchase this one,  if I had the means,  would be a no-brainer.
A true dream come true.
Anyhow,  in the listing there were around 35 pictures posted of this house,  many taken inside,  including this one here to the right.

This is just one of the numerous historic 

rooms inside this Ohio breakback house.

The rooms in this house,  though updated to 21st century standards,  all have the same basic design,  which is also similar to other homes of this vintage.  In fact, below are a couple of pictures showing roughly the similar interior design that seemed to be very popular and common in the 18th century houses.
Oh!  How I would love a house like this!
Alas,  however,  I am but a poor man,  so it is not to be.
However...like Henry Ford,  I had a better idea,  one that was suitable and could work pretty well for me:
why not create my own colonial-style interior?  I mean,  I built a Victorian room,  so why not a colonial room?
Oh yeah,  that's right...money.
But what if there was a way to replicate this,  and do it at an affordable price?

The great hall inside the Daggett House.

The sitting room inside the mid-18th century Giddings House.
Note the similarities in the basic style of the fireplace walls in the 
pictures I've posted,  including the 1840s kitchen photo posted earlier,  
the Ohio house,  Daggett,  and here in the Giddings Home.

Now,  it's good to have brilliant friends.  At least,  brilliant to me,  for after thinking about what I wanted to do and planning out the ideas in my head,  I called my friend,  Darrin,  and told him my ideas about creating a sort of colonial wall,  but I wasn't sure how to go about doing it.  He suggested checking out the paneling at the local Lowes home improvement store,  that they might have something I could use.

You know what?

They did!

This is not your parent's paneling,  that's for sure.

After speaking to another friend of mine,  Al,  who happened to be a carpenter,  and explaining to him through the pictures of the above houses what I wanted,  we came up with a plan:  purchase the paneling then paint it the color I wanted  (it was originally white,  but I wanted a darker,  more earth-tone brown).  So a third friend,  John,  had a vehicle that could easily carry the load I needed to my house.  Well,  it wasn't really a load - just five 4x8 sheets.

We've had a pretty rainy spring here in the metro-Detroit area,  so when we finally had a good clear day,  I took advantage of it and got all the paneling outside and got the painting done in an afternoon,  and the following weekend Al came by,  measured then cut out the pieces,  and then the two of us nailed it to the fireplace wall.

I must say,  I am quite pleased at how it turned out.

Scroll up a bit to the first picture I posted of this room to see the 
changes I made.  Also,  compare it with the actual colonial walls as well,  including the 1840s kitchen.

I lit my candles for this picture - - - 
So?  What do you think?
Does it have a touch of the colonial ambiance?

The small wood desk you see here I purchased
from Hobby Lobby!  It is very colonial in style.

So,  I am pretty happy with the outcome.  I like to say that Al  is actually  "Al Daggett,"  the unknown brother of 1750 housewright Samuel Daggett,  who came alive to help me with this.  Ha!  Well,  maybe the spirit of Samuel was with me here...either way,  I now have a little piece of  the 18th century in my own home.  And,  yet,  the rest of the room is still Victorian,  so I have the best of two time periods.
Oh,  you can bet I will still be visiting Greenfield Village and the 1750 Daggett House  (represented as around 1760),  the 1750 Giddings House  (presented as the 1760s),  the 1831 Eagle Tavern (presented as 1850),  and the 1861 Ford House  (presented as 1876),  along with other favorites such as the 1880s Firestone Farm,  the early 18th century Plympton House,  and the 1800 McGuffey Cabin.  In fact,  my wife joked that we should find faux logs to make our modern living room look like the McGuffey log cabin!
Wouldn't that be cool?  (Can you see why we've been married for thirty four years?)
However,  nothing but nothing beats the real deal.
But at least I got the feel of the past.

*(I added the following in December 2019):

My son took this picture with the camera on his phone, 
which captured the light beautifully.

I would like to think this gives a fair depiction of the 18th century.

Now,  a more natural look without augmentation.

Not too long ago I was able to procure a very cool - and very authentic - journal,  similar to one that a colonial farmer might have used to write out his activities,  barters,  and sales.  It is completely hand-made:  the cover and wrap-around is made of  naturally tanned full grain leather,  the paper is also made by hand,  and the binding is hand-stitched.

I am very proud to also note that the candles
were made - hand dipped - by me,  and the candle
sconce on the wall was hand-made by a local tinsmith
that I know.
And,  not to be wasteful,  I only lit the one candle -
the only light I need to write.

Since this journal is all made by hand,  I will only write in it by using quill and ink,  as you see in the photos here.  Not only does it add to my experience and helps me as a living historian,  but I cannot bear to write in such an item with a ball-point pen.  That would certainly take away any form of authenticity.
Yes,  I am one of those...

A living history experience in my own home!

I suppose what I am trying to convey in this posting is:  even if you don't or can't live in a period home,  recreating the feeling of the past just takes a little bit of imagination and friends with the know-how to help make it happen.  For the most part,  the costs should also be relatively low.
By the way,  I do thank God for a wife who allows me to follow my/our dreams in such a way.

Well,  with that---until next time,  see you in time.

To learn more about the Daggett House,  please click HERE

To learn more about the Giddings House,  please click HERE

To learn more about the Plympton House,  please click HERE
To see how I intertwined family history with the museum kitchen pictures,  click HERE
For an overview of everyday life in colonial America,  click HERE
For a posting about making memories in your home,  click HERE

PS Samuel Daggett did not have a brother named Al.
Just so you know.

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