Whitaker-Clary House

The Whitaker - Clary House, c. 1816, is one of the most impressive houses in the village of North New Salem. Situated on a slight knoll, it is set well back from the street. The front entrance has a door divided longitudinally that originally had glass panels. Although these have been replaced by wooden panels, the original panels are still stored in the house. This door possibly replaces an earlier one. The doorway, with its fluted pilasters and fan light, faces the street. The steps are of finished granite. The side door is also distinquished by a fan light, and finished granite steps lead up to it. The house is five bays wide, covered with white painted clap- boards on all sides. It is topped by a slate covered ridge roof, with cornice and dentils typical of this type of architecture.

There are two brick chimneys, each set in from the gable ends of the house, to accommodate three and four fireplaces respectively. The foundation of the house is made of finished granite slabs. The frame is all of hand hewn timbers, eight by eight inches in cross section, in excellent condition. The heavy bracing is mortised and tenoned into the main frame. The exterior of the main building remains in its original configuration, except for the twelve over twelve windows which were changed to two over two. The three bay ell, originally a single story high, was later raised to two stories. It has the same ridge roof and white clapboarding of the main house. The windows of the second story are six over six.

On the first floor, the center of one side is dominated by a double arched opening into an enclosed porch.

/ARCHITECT STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The significance of the Whitaker-Clary House is primarily architectural, although the architect is upknown, as are the craftsmen who actually built the house. It has retained almost all of its original details, thus remaining an outstanding example of Federal architecture in the localarea. A particularly noteworthy feature is the divided door of the front entrance, with its fan light and fluted pilasters, and the design of the dentils and cornice. Of major significance are the details of the finish of the interior that are in their original form and condition.

These include the intricately and delicately carved mantels in the four front rooms, the fireboards, the fine scroll pattern along the front stairway, and the stair treads and risers stencilled to resemble stair carpet. Nina Fletcher Little, author of the book American Decorative Wall Painting, stated that she had never before heard of stencilling used in the manner of this "stair carpet." A narrow back stairway leading from the kitchen to the bedchambers was probably used to reduce the wear and tear on this stair carpet design. The five fireboards, used to block off the fireplaces when not in use, are hand painted and grained in the manner of Moses taion, who was an itinerant painter of the Connecticut River Valley area at that time.

It is believed that he might have ot tosee Ba to 1s bo painted these fireboards. Each fireboard was individually fitted to the fireplace for which it was intended.