Lanesville Architecture
The earliest parts of the Lanesville House, built in 1779, included a single room house, two stories high with a loft, what is now the east parlor with the rooms directly above on the second and third floors; the single story kitchen was a separate building. The east parlor chimney and kitchen chimney are constructed of large stones in patters of red and tan. The stones get smaller as the chimney gets taller. The top of the chimneys are constructed of bricks built on-site. The stone pattern of these chimneys was considered quite fashionable in the 1770s.
By 1800, the main house had doubled in size. There were two parlors on the first floor, two bedrooms on the second floor, and two loft rooms in the attic. The kitchen remained a separate building. Chimney styles had changed by the time the second parlor was built, just ten to twenty years after the first two chimneys. Be sure to compare patterns of all three chimneys.
In the 1870s, building activity at the Lanesville House continued with the addition of rooms to join the front parlors to the kitchen, remodeling of the parlors, and adding the front porch and double front doors. Connecting the parlors to the kitchen changed the roofline on the back of the house; this expanded the attic rooms full-sized bedrooms. Also, adding the second front door symbolized prominence in the community as one parlor and entrance was for general family use, and the second set was for special guests.
In the 1880s, the kitchen of the house was expanded to two stories. Then, in the early 1900s, the kitchen was expanded slightly and the pantry, back stairs, and porches were added. In 2003, the handicapped ramp was added to allow access into the house for all visitors.
Marker is on Old Vestals Gap Road, on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
