Musings on Muntins

DeJoux House is not your average pre-Revolutionary War stone house. Usually they are dark and have low ceilings. We are lucky the bottom of the beams are 6ft 8in from the floors and the ceilings are about 8 ft. Our new kitchen (two rooms knocked together - left) has 5 windows in it and there are a total of 12 windows on the ground floor.

Obviously some of these windows were added over time. The question became which ones were the originals? In one of the early tax lists (1798, I think) I saw that the house was listed as having 7 windows.

The 1870 Jesse Elting photo helps a little here as it shows one window (upstairs) and 4 windows at the front of the house. By studying the frames and the surrounds of these windows versus the others, I have been able to identify some of the features of what I believe are the older windows.

OLD (period 1) vs.NEW (period 2)

1) All of the older windows are 12 panes over 8 and have thicker muntins between the panes of glass.

2) On the outside, the older windows have wide header at the top with clearly visible pegs where they connect to the side posts/jam.

3) On the inside, trim around the windows is flush with the wall and have a 'quarter round' moulding. Where the dropped ceilings have been removed this moulding continues along the top of these older windows.

Unfortunately, it looks like one of the older windows in the living room has been replaced to match the two new windows added to that room. Looking at the plans the 6 older windows on the ground floor are opposite each other (front to back). One either end of the kitchen, one either end of the center hall and one either end of the livingroom/library. The seventh window being the only window upstairs on the south of the house.

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Maria Deyo - a chilling tale

We arrived at the house this weekend to meet with the contractors who had poured concrete in the basement on Friday. When we arrived we found a family standing in front of the house taking pictures. Being the friendly types we are, we went over to chat. They told us they were on a haunted house tour and were looking at the house because their daughter had been talking about the ghost at our house for the last couple of days. She had bought a book called "Spooky Hudson Valley" and in it was the story of Maria Deyo and a tragic tale of a mother killing all three children and then killing herself. The family were wonderful and excited to be shown the house. They showed us the book and at the beginning of the story was a picture of our house. The book went on to say that Maria sent the men to the fields and then she slit her daughter's throat and the throat of her other two children...then killed herself. All this happened on September 13 th 1801. There was...

Paradox farm

If you wander along Springtown Road, past DeJoux House, you will see our mailbox opposite the front door. It's not especially distinguishable except it is rather large and sits on an old tree stump. It's a rusty old thing but it seems to have survived the snow plows and drunk drivers of Springtown Road. It has always bothered me that on the side of the mail box you can see the vague outline of the words "Paradox Farm" which was clearly a name that DeJoux House was more recently referred to. Occasionally when wondering the fields I would stumble across some incongruity and wonder if that was indeed the "paradox" that the farm was named after. Yesterday morning, for some unknown reason, I decided it was time to resolve the paradox. I sent a quick email to the previous owner June Finer to see if she knew anything of the Paradox Farm ghost on the side of the mailbox. This was her reply: once upon a time we, (myself and russell gilmore---my ex), met a...

DeJoux House to be published

Reclaimed Doorway Our house has been watched over the years by a couple, Susan Daley and Steve Gross who create amazing books of old houses and Hudson Valley (each name below is a link to Amazon). They knew the house and had been watching our progress. As we came close to finishing they reached out and asked if they could photograph the house for a book of cottages: Catskill Country Style Book , Old Houses , Farm House Revival , Homes With A Past , Gardens of Hudson Valley , Time Wearing Out Memory ...to name but a few. All of these books are beautifully produced. I can't wait to see our home in one of them later in 2015/16. I won't reveal all of the amazing photographs that have been taken of our house, you'll have to buy the book to see them all....but here is a little taster. Summer patio Kitchen Stools Front Door Open

DeJoux House

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