|
|
|
The opening for the beehive oven in the kitchen fireplace is located at the back of the fireplace. This placement necessitated a wide hearth so that the user could enter the fireplace to access the oven. The rear oven location was abandoned for the more convenient location to the side of the fireplace opening (less chance of burning the user) about 1800 on Cape Cod. By 1821 the building was operated as a tavern by Ezra Crocker,
grandson of Ebenezer Crocker, and his wife, Temperance, who was
a niece of Ebenezer. The house became an important overnight
stop of the Hyannis-Sandwich Stagecoach line, accommodating such
notable visitors to the area as Daniel Webster.
David Crocker, son of Ezra and Temperance, became the next owner, and his daughter, Susan Crocker was the next occupant, remaining there until 1920 when Frank Hardy purchased the house. The Handy family made several modifications over the years, but by 1945 when Mrs. Handy was 85 years old the house was not in very good repair. Martha Cahoon writes: For heat, Mrs. Handy burned coal in a kitchen range and a round tin parlor stove. The bathroom and bedroom over the living room also had registers which took the chill off the rooms. Kitchen pipes would freeze in zero weather. When the wind was strong it blew up through the cracks in the floorboards and actually blew a bulge in the carpet! In 1945 the house was purchased by artists Ralph and Martha Cahoon, and it became their home and studio until the death of Ralph Cahoon in 1982. When the artists moved to Cotuit they made their living as decorative furniture painters. Mr. Cahoon had been looking for a colonial style house which would make an appropriate setting for their antique and painted furniture business. They began restoring the building immediately, although materials were difficult to obtain because of the war.
Ralph and Martha's son, Franz Cahoon, relates that he can remember dipping shingles in the red paint for the men who were installing new siding, much to their chagrin, since their hands became heavily stained with the red color. Few modifications were needed when the building was converted to a museum. Besides new lighting, heating and cooling systems, some of the old flooring was reinforced to accommodate the additional traffic. And, most recently, a new front entry was built, returning the central façade to its original Georgian style with triangular pediments and supporting columns.  4676 Falmouth Road · PO Box 1853 · Cotuit, MA 02635 · (508) 428-7581 · fax (508) 420-3709 © 2001 Cahoon Museum of American Art |
Georgian
Cape Cod house is distinguished by its balanced placement of
doors and windows, especially on the front of the building. Elements
are employed from the books of Palladio, a Venetian architect
from the 1500's, such as the doorway capped with triangular pediment
(see early photo of the building). The house also features small-paned
flat-topped windows and gable roof. Clapboard is used to cover
the exterior which emphasizes the horizontal lines of the design.
The dark red paint of the clapboard simulates the brick of more
cosmopolitan homes off-Cape. The white trim highlights the symmetrical
placement of doors and windows. On the interior, there is a heavy
use of paneled woodwork, including doors, wainscoting and sometimes
entire walls, especially the fireplace wall. Mantelpieces appeared
in only the finest homes of this period, but were often added
at a later time, as has been done in this house.
The stenciling in the entry hall
is thought to date from this time period. It is very similar
to a design found in the ballroom of the Governor Pierce house
in Hillsborough, NH, which was built in 1804.
from
inside the original large one in the old kitchen and we worked
very hard to restore the old red which was the original color
of the house. It was very difficult as there was old cracked
and peeling grey paint on it.