Edmund Freeman Woodhouse, Truro Road, Truro

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS MASS,1-TRU,17-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Truro Road at Ryder Pond on U.S. Highway No. 6. Truro, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Building number in Cape Cod National Seashore. Owner: Joseph Peters. Truro Road, Truro, Massachusetts.

Architectural Information

The Edmund Freeman Woodhouse is a typical Cape Cod utility structure of the early nineteenth century. The rectangular wood building faces south and is shingled. The building contains a loft and a small shed is attached to the east. This building is in poor condition except for the south face of the roof which was reshingled in July, It is surrounded by resi- dential lawns and planting* ^he total structure measures on the south by on the west. The underpinnings are brick and rock on grade. The walls are plank with exterior wood shingles and no interior finish on all 3ides* The post and beam frame shows signs of having been altered at some time. The fram- ing of the loft floor in particular seems to have been shifted or replaced.

This can be seen by the surface physical evidence of removed pegs and some remaining whitewash, which outlines the former structure line. The wood- house has large flat rocks for stoops. There is one door in the south wall of the main structure and one in the south wall of the lean-to. Both are five panel painted wood, but are not original to the structure. There is a door in the center of the south elevation which has been nailed shut and shingled over. The main door is now to the east of the original door. There is one glazed window in the main structure. This six light window is smaller than the original, as can be seen from surface evidence. There is one window in the loft of the main structure which consists of a six light sash set in place in a tem- porary fashion.

This loft window is flanked on either side by solid wood shutter on the interior. The lean-to has a 9/6 light sash. EDMUND FREEMAN WOODHOUSE HABS No. MA-701 (Page 2) The roof of the main structure is gable covered with wood shingles on the south face and tar paper on the north face. At present the planks run parallel to the ridge and are supported by five rafters* There is some indication that the intermediate rafters were inserted after the original construction. These intermediate rafters are different in dimension and fastening. The three original rafters show signs of having once been fitted with purlins. The end and center rafters are hewn and the intermediate ones are straight sawn.

This evidence suggests that the original roof planks may have been perpendicular to the ridge, as was conmon on the Cape before The main structure is one room and the lean-to shed is one room. The loft is open and not partitioned. The loft is reached by ladder; there are no signs of a stairway. The flooring is average random width planking. The walls and ceilings are not finished. The doors to the exterior have simple iron lift latches and hinges. There is no hardware on the door that has been blocked up. On the northeast corner of the main structure is quite a large strap hinge fastened to the exterior corner post. There is now no surface evidence of why this hinge may have been fastened here. The building has no lighting or heating.

The woodhouse is behind the Edmund Freeman House as recorded in the site plan for the Historic American Buildings Survey. Besides this woodhouse and the main house there was another woodhouse, a free- standing summer kitchen and two barns There is a rail fence between the woodhouse and the main house. This fence was built during the from second hand materials. There is a sand drive to the east of the woodhouse. At one time a road passed the woodhouse either to the north or the south, very close, but the exact location is now lost, Prepared by; )onald B. Myer National Park Service Cape Cod Survey II Truro field office July 17,