William Pitcher Farmstead HSR

DESCRIPTION +
CONDITION ASSESSMENT
INTERIOR
The Pitcher farmhouse consists of three levels: the cellar, the main floor, and the
garret. The house originally had two rooms on the main floor, separated by a central
jambless fireplace, a garret above, and a cellar below under the east half. The house as
originally built was a nine-bent structure, 38’ along the eave by 25’ deep. It was
framed in the Dutch style typical of the area.
“The hallmark of Dutch American framing logic is its simplicity.” 1
Dutch structures consist of a series of H-
shaped “bents that are lined up, one
behind the next (figure 1). Massive beams
connect each pair of posts with a pegged
mortise-and-tenon joint, to form a bent.
Bents are closely spaced, typically 3-1/2’
and 5-1/2’ apart. Each bent is mortised
into sill and top plates that run the length
of the eaves. Rafter pairs are generally set
above each bent. The typical joint
between the rafter and collar beam is a
half dovetail. The size of the house is
determined by the number of bents. For
example, a five bent house would be
between 14’ and 22’ long and as wide as
the anchor beam. The Dutch tended to
live compactly, often in a one-room
structure with a garret for storage and
figure 1- the eight-bent, center-chimney Winne
House 1751 (Timothy J. Gallagher 2005,
Metropolitan Museum of Art)
1 Clifford W. Zink, p. 273, “Dutch Framed Houses in New York and New Jersey,”
Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 22, No. 4
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