Print Size: 24" x 30" (Frame Size: 24" x 30")
The elevation, roof sections and plans on this sheet of colonial details document the evolution of the timber-framed Waters House, built in 1683 as a sturdy 2-story residence with a large central chimney and roomy gambrel roof with its characteristic double slope. An 18th-century addition reconfigured the rectangular house into a skewed “L” accommodating a bakery. The new wing followed the angle of the street to maximize space in the densely settled center of town, and provided a commercial entrance directly onto busy Market Square. (The bakery’s ovens were located outside in the yard to protect the wooden house from fire.) Although the new wing adopted a simple pitched roof in place of the original gambrel, it was erected with the same principles of wood joinery, using mortise-and-tenon instead of nails. The detailed drawings produced by the WPA are largely all that remain of the structure as it was demolished in 1937.
