Silas Wood House - a Colonial Gambrel Roof Home

Here's a beautiful old place. It's the Silas Wood house. What a great name ... Silas Wood. Sounds like a character out of a Nathaniel Hawthorne novel. He comes from Hawthorne's same neck of the woods, coastal Massachusetts. 

All photos and drawings are from the Historic American Building Survey

The house is a lovely example of a Colonial style farmhouse, built up piecemeal, over time, with a massive hearth and chimney at the center of it all, exuding warmth and coziness. The chimney has the date 1771 on it. But the central chimney location, the construction of the gable windows, stone foundation and and the low ceiling of the ground floor suggest at least parts of the house may date from earlier in the century.

Ground Floor Plan

Copies of the full set of architectural drawings are available at my eBay store.

Silas Wood was Middleborough, Massachusett's only shopkeeper. He passed the house on to his grandson, Abiel, who took over the shop as well. Abiel went into business partnership with one William Andrews, who in turn married Maria Wood. I'm guessing that Maria may have been Abiel's sister. Perhaps this was when the single story addition, which is a virtual house of its own, was added on.

Front and Rear Elevations

Side Elevations

The main house is a perfect example of the gambrel roof, or Dutch barn roof, arranged to provide additional headroom in the attic story to allow for usable bedrooms. The addition follows the lines of a Cape Cod house, with a lengthier roof slope at the rear.

Gambrel roof gable end

Entry Porch of the later addition

Mantelpieces and trim details