The 1804 House Update

Back in March I posted a story about my cousin's rennovation of the Forster- Leach House, built in 1804 and inspired by Samuel McIntire's homes built in nearby Salem, Massachusetts  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/03/1804-house-and-some-family-connections.html     The project has been moving along, and we finally had a chance to tour the inside of the house.  The photo above is of the front parlor, and the mantelpiece is undergoing extensive stripping of 30 layers of paint which had obscured the beautiful, delicate carving.

The piece below is a carved panel that belongs over the door.

Below is an example of a McIntire designed room now on exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  It was originally part of the Oak Hill Mansion built in Peabody, Massachusetts, owned by Nathaniel West and Elizabeth Derby originally of Salem, Massachusetts.   You can see how the Forster-Leach house used the McIntire carvings as inspiration.  The new owners are trying to preserve as much of the original woodwork as possible in the house rennovations.

click to enlarge
and to read the detailed museum description

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo