Fuller House | Townsend House | 2nd Fuller House | Tolman Gay House | Hearthstone Farm | Bird House | Hawes-Newell House | Lewis House | Ebenezer McIntosh House | Nathan McIntosh House | Whitney House |Ezra Fuller House | Mills House | Little Red School House | Needham Historical Society | Luther Morse House

About Old Houses
House Styles | Fireplaces | Moving

House Style

House handout - pdf

1640 - 1720 Early English Medieval Type/Typical Saltbox Features: One large chimney Small windows/small panes Log door Steep pitched roofs Thatched roof The first homes built in New England were constructed of timber, probably split logs. The cracks were filled with clay.

These houses from Plimouth Plantation are good examples of early Needham houses. The earliest form of roofing material used by the Pilgrims was thatch. Reeds and rushes were gathered from nearby swamps, bound into bundles,and lashed to the roof. The thatch was piled layer upon layer until it was about one foot thick. These houses were of the simplest design. They were not built to last and are not around today. Every house was required by law to have a ladder for fire protection. Sparks escaping from the chimney could set the roof on fire.

This is a good example of a saltbox house.

In the 1700 they started adding to the back of the houses to give them more space inside. The result was the one and a half room deep saltbox. The Fairbanks House in Dedham was built during this time. The saltbox takes its name from a sloping roof that gives the house the shape of a wooden box used to store salt in Colonial times.

1740 - 1830 Features: Larger house - more chimneys Larger windows/larger panes Symmetrically balanced windows Shutters Fancier door After this, houses changed into the four rooms over four rooms style called the Colonial House.

The Bird House was built during this time.

1850 - 1920 Features: Larger house Larger windows/more windows Back to one chimney Decorative door Addition of front porch Later addition of garage .

This is an example of a Colonial House.

 

Fire Places

In colonial times fireplaces were very important. People needed them for light, cooking, and heating the home. The first basic saltbox home was built with a chimney in the center of the house. The fireplace was located in the kitchen for cooking and warmth, and then ran up through the second floor to the bedrooms for warmth. In the colonial home the chimney was also located in the center of the house for heat, and would often have fireplaces from it in all eight rooms. Later, a colonial home floor plan with a center hall way and chimneys on each side of the house became popular.

Moving

It was not unusual for houses to be moved from one place to another. Building was expensive and supplies were limited. Every year the Native Americans would burn large areas of land to clear out brush and new growth. As a result, Needham was not covered with large forests. The oldest house in Needham, the Robert Fuller House, was moved down the road when the family wanted to build a new house. The First Parish Church was moved from its first location on Nehoiden Street (near the cemetery) to its present location in the center of town. On February 26, 2005 the Little Red School House was moved from 278 Central Ave to Newman School's front lawn.

Watch the slideshow and learn more about how the
school house was moved!

 

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