A major challenge for understanding historic homes is understanding the ways in which the homes have been modified for use over the years between their original construction and today. A trip to the library can offer you a variety of sources on the ways to identify the time periods of various parts of your house based on the method of construction of various parts of your home, the type of materials used, the size and shape of elements or the inclusion or exclusion of elements. This project is studying one of those elements that is present during a time period, but by the end of that era they have disappeared from houses. The search for information on these elements showcased just how strongly the Lincoln Home conforms to its Greek Revival style. The picture on the top left is the template for a Greek Revival; Home, the top right is an image of the Lincoln Home. All of the major elements of the Lincoln Home are present on the diagram, and the book that it is from notes that the entry may be present or not depending on the style of house. In the Midwest the book notes that the porch is often omitted. The book in question is A Field Guide to Early American Houses which studies the style of the nineteenth-century and makes use of those templates to find examples of home and how you can best identify them. The Lincoln Home is full of these elements, doors and their frames, two staircases, the windows and their layout, as well as the wood stoves and one open fireplace. These elements are all original to the time the Lincolns lived in the home and showcase the craftsmanship of Springfield artisans. But the Lincoln Home is an anomaly, it has been preserved from the time of Lincoln The other homes that share the space with the Lincoln Home are more likely examples of what books such as this are discussing. Used and reused, modified, moved, expanded and reoriented to fit the needs of each generation that used them. The National Park Service has studied the homes and worked over the years to restore them to an appearance that just maybe Lincoln would have recognized if he toured the neighborhood today.
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Today I went to the Lincoln Home National Historic Site to do some research on the transom windows inside the Lincoln Home. During my time there occasionally there would be a question about the windows on the second floor of the home. Today these objects are kind of a curiosity, no longer do we need windows above our doors to help circulate air throughout the house. Questions ranged from "what are those things above the doors" to "why are they swinging from the side" to "my school had windows like that, why are they inside of Mr. Lincoln's house." During the tours I would try to answer these questions but rarely had what felt like a good answer for them, so when the opportunity came up to do some research for a grad school project the Lincoln Home transoms were a good fit. The windows in question are above the interior doors on the second story of the LIncoln Home, they are all facing the rear hallway, Mary's Bedroom, the Boys; Room, the Hired Girl's Room, the Trunk Room, and the door to the Rear Stairs each have a transom above the door. Two of the transoms are still operable today, Mary's Bedroom and the Rear stairs can still be operated. In order to understand the windows the search for information must not only ask about the windows themselves but also about Victorian attitudes on air circulation and the benefits of ventilation to personal health. In many ways the search for information on the windows is limited by their place in society. Many old homes have them and most of the time people see the windows without taking time to think about them very much. This project however will seek to find a context for the windows found above the doors in the next old house you visit. |
The Ranger SteveThough I'm no longer found underneath the Flat Hat of the NPS I still find myself identifying as Ranger Steve more often than not. Archives
January 2017
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