Craftsman Mountain House: November 2015

A Little History

The Mountain House was built in the 1920s by Jan Williams, the first clarinetist for the John Phillips Sousa Band. The band used to practice on a retreat on Band Camp Road, a few miles west of our house. We've found old sheet music in the attic. Jan owned a lot of property in the area, and his grown grandchildren have come by to visit the old place.

At one time, the house served as rooms for quarry workers. You can find the old quarry by following the rough trail to the right of the garage. You might need to bushwack a little bit through the woods, past the moss forest, to the old iron bench. The quarry is a fun place to explore. Pete and our friends created the "throne" at the top of the rock hill, beneath which porcupines make their dens. If you look carefully you'll find quills.

In true craftsman style, the wood for the walls of the house were lathed from the trees surrounding it. You can see that the house was originally much smaller - at the edge of the fridge is the "new addition". This skylit area with the small office space was probably built in the 1960s. You might also notice that the counters and door knobs are a little high. We found out why one summer day when the owners from the 70s came by, both over 6' tall.

The house across the way was the original pump house for the main house. We call it the Well House - double meaning. We renovated it a few years back and sometimes we rent it.

Craftsman Mountain House

Saturday, November 21, 2015

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