Built between 1680 and 1690, the Burnham House is situated on Pond Street in a wooded, sparsely settled area of Essex. The 2.5. acres immediately surrounding the house stalls andidescchpo oh. on aine late 12, meentoned imosphe of ahe carly deeds ls photo- located in the front and to the west of the house. A shortdistance to the west of the orchard and house lies a salt marsh, and just beyond that is the northeastern portion of Lake Chebacco. The main block of the Burnham House is approximately 30 feet long across its south or front elevation and is of basic five bay center-chimney construction with a one and one- half story lean-to along the rear elevation.
Various appended structures were attached on the west, north and east, and all remain, but do not seriously compromise the late 17th century appearance of the clapboarded main portion of the house, The diamond pane leaded sash with wrought hinges and probably the heavy front door with decorative nail pattern date from the restoration of the house by George Francis Dow in 1924. The 6/6 sash in the peaks of the gable ends appear to date from the late 1700's or early 1800's. The chimney has been rebuilt, but retains an early scale and proportion, if not design. The wood shingle roof adds to the early appearance of the house. The later additions, which are all well documented as to dates (see attached plan and below), includes small, one story structures, some of which were originally outbuildings on the property. To the east of the house lies a large early 19th century barn and a shed.
22 The following statement offers a description of the late 17th century interior construction of the main block of the Burnham House, and of the early 18th century construction of the lean-to on the north elevation (rear).. Details of the 1924 restoration by George Francis Dow of the Essex Institute, with assistance from the Society for the Preservation of New (sac attached Fioor 1yasl England Antiquities, are also noted. (See attached Floor Plans) - - AETOE The roof framing represents a very early type with the rafters joined together and pegged There are six principle rafters, two at each end of the attic, with four running across the middle. There are three purlins on these rafters, the middle set of which overlaps and is pegged in to the rafters.
Beneath the middle of purlins on each rafter is a very stout wood-pegged knee brace, apparently original to A number of roof sheathing or decking boards are greater than , and some are up to 18'' wide. All of the roof framing appears to be oak. Carpenters' scribe marks can be seen on the west sides of the second and third center rafters. The studs in the end walls are toenailed with wrought nails. On the north side of the attic, there is clear evidence that the lean-to was added after the main portion of the house had been built. Tops of exterior sheathing boards have been hewn off at a bevel. to take the roofing for the lean-to. Some of the bevelled sheathing evidently was removed when the lean-to was built and has been used as flooring on the south side of the attic.
The masonry mass that carries the flue through the roof is so broad that instead of trimmers, it was actually trimmed by the existing original rafters. (Continued) NPS Form10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 Far NPS use anly recelved 7/0/53 date antered Continuation sheet David Burnham House, Essex Item number 7 Page 1 In the attic stairs two'pockets" consisting of diagonal slashes into a framing member along the east side of the present stairway look as if they might have taken the original door framing. postcasing on the post which supports a major carrying beam has old rose head wrought nails. cut nails that are clamped at the head, then hammered.
The floor in the hallway of the second floor appears to be 18th century, and the beaded feather-edge paneling is probably from the 1924 restoration by George Francis Dow. In 1 by conge rancis Do. the 15' wide west chamber, one massive shouldered exterior post shows up-and-down saw marks that were possibly made by a pit-saw. The paneling on the fireplace wall shows signs of paint removal, and to the upper right corner of the fireplace is illegible but certainly very old handwriting. The raised field panels over the 29'' deep fireplace may date from 1715 to 1720. Old wrought nails, some with heads hammered to make them narrow for use as proper finishing nails, attach the fireplace wall paneling. moulding below the mantel reveals newer millwork, and was probably done by Dow in 1924. Except for this later moulding, the paneling could be early 18th century.
The 16' wide east chamber has a smaller fireplace, measuring 16' deep. There is new wall surface treatment in this chamber, so it is difficult to tell what may have been there originally. The flooring, however, seems original, of a character typical of the late 17th century. It has the same type of nails that can be seen in the 1636 Fairbanks House in Dedham, Massachusetts, which are rather rare. The summer beams in both the east and west chambers are chamfered and show crudely hacked attempts at lamb's tongue stops. (The summer beams in the two downstairs rooms show more carefully carved lamb's tongue stops to the chamfers.) On the back of the north side of this room (now a passageway above the lean-to) wrought nail holes are visible in the sheathing.
These indicate that on top of this sheathing there was rather thick and broad clapboarding, four and one-half" or more in width, given the spacing of the nail holes. The ceiling of these chambers, as well as the rooms downstairs, are quite high. The stairway between the first and second floors shows evidence of having been widened as does the attic stairway. There are indications that there was a soffit under the stairway to the attic. The beaded, feather-edge paneling that sheathes the wall appears to have been added in 1924, as was the newel post and balustrade. The first floor exhibits numerous early features. The interior side of the front door shows painted beaded, feather-edge paneling.
The horizontal pieces of wood, some of which are quite wide, have been "sandwiched" with vertical pieces, all of which were nailed together with what appears to be Tremont Nail Company "Rose Head" nails with little round knobs in their centers instead of hammered heads (probably the work of Dow in 1924). The hinge hardware, though, is extremely old. Butterfly-head hand wrought nails hold the top hinge strap. The door, then, shows a combination of very early material, that is evident in many areas in the house. There is no basement under the 17' wide east room. The joists are quite substantial, and are at least 8' at the cross section. Subflooring beneath the present floor is attached with cut nails, so neither floor is original to the house.
The posts in this room (Continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use anly recelved k/1/r) date entered Continuation sheet David Burnham House, Essex Item number Page 2 are not shouldered. The lamb's tongue stops, mentioned above, in the chamfers, are original. An extremely large fireplace (very much like the one in the 1671 Swet- Ilsley House in Newbury, Massachusetts), of which there is a well documented account of lts restoration in 1924, 15 located on the west side of the room, near the rear (north) wall. The huge lintel above the fireplace shows in an opening almost nine teet across in front and 12-14" deep in section.
The lintel has been cut at a diagonal, and slants back into the masonry opening, which was covered by plaster pargeing. There is a curious square pocket in the masonry just above one of the pieces of wood worked into the brick - there is no corresponding pocket on the other side of the fireplace. The wall on the south side is laid up straight, but the wall on north side where the lean-to is, is laid-up corbeled outward, and a beehive oven is located on the right side, near the borbeled bricks. There are inconsistencies in the brick that reveal modifications made during the 18th and 19th century. The bricks on the hearth are small, and are the type called "pea bricks," usually associated with Salem, Massachusetts. The post to the north of the fireplace carries two beams. The timber used for this post is of large dimensions, about 14" square.
A small door opening exists leading into the lean-to beside the fireplace. The wood framing and casing of the doorway is secured with very early wrought nails with hammered heads, narrow in size; yet another piece of evidence for the heads, narrow in size; yet another piece of evidence for the 1715 construction of the lean-to. The present door on the northeast side of the room has been handplaned and shows signs of paint removal. It consists of two very large raised field panels, three feet across, al- though the door itself is rather small - only 5'4" in height. The room on the west side of the first floor measures 16' in width and has a slightly smaller fireplace (35" deep) than the one mentioned above. This room shows evidence, too, of Dow's 1924 restoration, as well as many original elements.
On the west side, one portion of the wall has been removed to allow entry into one of the one-story additions (attached in the early 20th century). The ceilings of both east and west rooms are unusually high. The present cellar doorway shows, in the major beam, diagonal insertions cut into the beam and square nail holes, indicating that there was some sort of opening there when the house was originally constructed. Brick masonry leads down the 19th century stairs to a fieldstone mass, and rubble stone which supports the large fireplace in the east room above. The masonry mass of the basement extends way back, underneath the west room to the end of the lean-to's northern-most exterior wall. The trimmer granite stone shows signs of having been hewed more in shape for the fireplace in the lean-to.
It is neatly squared off at the corners and projects beyond a fieldstone foundation wall which runs east-west across the foundation of the house. The foundation on the front of the main block of the house is much lumpier, much more a case of laid up rubble stone with no attempt at trimming and smoothing. In one area under the lean-to section, the original exterior sheathing extends down and confirms that the lean-to was built after the main portion of the house. In this same area of the basement, the mortar on the fieldstone masonry of the lean-to fireplace is made similar to a hair plaster. NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp.
10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Far NPS use anly received date enterec Continuation sheet David Burnham House Item number 7 Page 3 The lateral additions to the main block of the David Burnham House date largely from the late 1920's. Erected following George Francis Dow's 1925 restoration of the house. these additions were designed to harmonize with the 17th century structure and made it a more functional living space without compromising its original character. Brief descriptions of these additions follow (refer to attached plan and photos #5,6 and 7). All are wood- frame construction; the exterior walls end gable roofs are sheathed with asphalt or unpainted wood shingles. 1. David Burnham House c.1684. Described above. 2.
The bedroom ell (1929) is an L-plan 1-story structure constructed on two levels to conform to the site's sloping topography. Windows are 12/12 doublehung sash. 3. The solarium is a small (21' x 21') square 1-story structure containing four hays of late glass on each exposed elevation (south and west). Erected or moved here ir 1926, it was recently modified(1981). 4. The library is a small 1-story rectangular connector with 6/6 doublehung sash and entry. A shed of unknown construction date, it was attached to the main house in 1927 and modified in 1977. 5. Ihe servants-guests wing(1930) displays its gable end on the south elevation with three symmetrically placed 6/6 doublehung sash windows. 6. Connecting the guest wing and barn, the garage (1930) contains four arched opening bays. 7.
The barn (1926) displays nearly identical gable ends with overlighted doorways and 6/6 double hung sash windows.
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