The Case of the Vanished Bench?
The working drawings for the main stair of the Cross House. However, As Drawn proved different than As Built as the lower steps, dramatically cascading into the main hall, were, instead…
…built in a U-shape facing the south hall.
Then, in 1950, a stair to the basement was created under the main stair. A newel post and a length of original railing (removed in 1929 when the upper landing was reduced in size) were used to create a balustrade for the new basement staircase (lower left). In 2014, I removed the basement stair, and returned the newel post and length of railing to their original locations on the second floor.
Even though the stair shape was built differently than As Drawn, the paneled wall was built pretty much As Drawn. Now, note the carved section circled in red.
That got hacked off in the 1950 alternation. And how do I know?
See? Quite brutal. And how do I know the carved piece ever existed?
Because it is still in the house. This is the south face.
And the brutalized north face, which would have faced the main hall. Sigh.
So, again, this is where the carved piece was originally located. Now, note the sweeping curve leading to the carved piece.
A few years ago I noticed something odd. The sweeping curved trim to the right was clearly original. But why was there a “twin” to its left? The twin came off easily, and I realized that it was originally…
…in this location, used as a bracket. It’s ghost outline was clearly visible on the paneled ceiling. OK! Another odd thing was the two paneled ceiling planes. To the left are panels with long rectangles. Then, to its right, were odd bits of trim, then a paneled section with squares. Huh? This made no sense. And why was the newly reinstated bracket flat on its right side? It looked like something was supposed to go against it. But what?
I remove the odd bits of trim, and wondered if the square paneled section had been, before the basement stair was installed in 1950, vertical? This got me excited. For, this would mean that this paneled section was originally vertical and against the bracket. Oh! That made sense. But the panel was not large enough to reach the floor. So…so…and then it all came to me. Scroll way down…
I think this is what might have been. I think that, before the 1950s basement stair was created, a bench was in this location. And this would explain why BOTH sides of the carved piece were carved.
Such a bench makes a lot of sense. The paneled piece, if placed vertically again, would be 18-inches above the floor. And 18-inches is the standard height of a bench or chair.
The south hall was the family entrance. So, people could have walked into the house from the south door and used such a bench to take their boots off, a common feature in houses of this era.
Can I be sure of all this? No. But this possibility does make sense of all the extant bits.
I intend to build this. Obviously, I will need to do careful drawings and even build a mock-up to scale to get everything right. The missing bits of the carved piece will have to be recarved. And was there a second carved piece on the north wall?
I also wonder, mightily: WHY did the 1950 alternation brutalize the carved bit? There was no reason for this; it was not in the way of the new stair. I want to go back in time and smack somebody! Time to fire up my time machine!
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My aunt’s house of similar vintage but not as grand and in PA had something like this, and the bench seat lifted up for storage. I forget what she stowed in there – salt/kitty litter for the sidewalks in winter, maybe?
Gadzooks! If your sketch is correct (you’ve convinced me) and you reinstate the bench and reorient its back to vertical, you will create a secret compartment! BTW, another example of how previous custodians of the Cross House conserved its elements even while remuddling. Perhaps better than they knew, in anticipation of your future restoration. La Forza del Destino!
John, gadzooks, indeed!
Yes, with the bench in place, there will be a secret space in the house. I wonder if, originally, there was a small access door from the library into the space?
Or perhaps a concealed hinge at the top of the panel could allow it to swing up and out of the way like a large doggy door? Some strategically placed grab catches would allow it to be held out of your way while accessing the compartment.
Is it possible some of the odd bits of trim were parts of the bench originally?
Ooh. I love this line of thinking. I love houses with secret nooks and passages.
I second the idea of a hidden compartment. Surely a house like this needs a few secret spaces. A place to hide the booze in case prohibition ever returns. Btw, love your drawings!
An impressive, creative bit of sleuthing and educated guessing, Ross. And such fun to recreate the original bench nook! With it’s beautiful carvings and curves it was and will be a welcoming, favorite spot. And yeah, it must have had a storage cubby!
The back and edges of that panel may provide further clues. I also notice that the panel under the stair landing-same pattern- has its stiles and rails oriented the other way from the panel which was attached under the stair. Perhaps it needs to be rotated to match?
Brilliant. And obvious (after you walked us through the process). If the ghost outline of the left bracket was visible on the wall, I would expect any outline of the swoop of a carved detail would be also.
Wouldn’t it be fun if you could make it so that panel could secretly open? Just kidding. I’ll bet there was a bunch there. We found evidence that our old house had a bunch as well, but we couldn’t put it back because a prior owner had moved the air intake to where the bench was installed. We would have needed to rework the entire central heating system.
Sharon: What a bummer. I bet that bench would have been handy, too.
It will be very impressive. If you are going to go to the trouble of renting a time machine and going back to 1950, why not go back further to when the Cross granddaughter sold the house initially, and buy it BEFORE it had been altered and abused? Think of all the work you would save…and money too! Our house sold the first time around 1909 for I believe $3,250.00….about what we spent last year replacing the porch floors.
Brilliantly deduced, Ross! I wait with anticipation to see the recreated bench one day. The arch for the wall side…does it stop continuing on the left because it would have been in the way of door casing for the door you say was never installed? (but totally should be 🙂
So does this mean the only way into the basement, originally and currently, is via the servants’ stair?
This sounds like another job for Dr. Doug! What a great project that seems very doable and won’t require a lot of guessing as to how it should be designed.
Yes, this bench MUST be recreated! Crazy, unsubstantiated theory: maybe pieces of the bench itself were reused in 1950 to make alterations to the butler’s pantry.
Ross, please type back lol…
What explains the newel post and length of original banister for the old basement that was removed in 1929? Is it part of the main staircase? Clearly it looks original…
The paneling is beautiful! an I love the bench ~ How awesome..