Chase’s Tavern Report—The West Wing

By Ellen Nielsen

            On August 15, a representative from the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program visited the Chase’s Tavern Restoration Project to evaluate the work that has been done so far.  The visitor from the State Agency, which awarded the matching grant to the Town of Unity, was enthusiastic about our town’s project, and was especially impressed by the fact that so much of the floor plan of the original building has been preserved.

           The floor plan of the existing structure has needed little alteration as the 200-year- old house, which was originally a tavern and was later used as a private home, has been transformed into space for our town offices, police department, library, and historical society, yet the finished building will meet 21^st century requirements for fire safety and handicapped accessibility.   This is because a wheelchair accessible entrance and restroom, an elevator, a second staircase, and two additional exits have been located in the new west wing addition.

            The new west wing is not the first addition that has been attached to the Tavern since it was first built.  The lack of nail holes in part of the original sheathing on the west end indicates that a 12’ deep shed was attached to the main building before the original siding was installed.   Photographs taken about 1900 show a large addition with a two bay carriage shed linking it to a barn.  The barn and carriage shed, as well as a second barn, had disappeared by the 1960’s.  By 1989 the larger 19^th century wing had been replaced by the small shed which was moved to the northwest corner of the lot when the restoration project began in May.

            The sill of the19th century addition was mortised into the sill of the west wall of the main building, and the location of the mortise pocket shows that the wing was 22’6” deep.  Changes in the height of the foundation show that the original west wing was built in several installments.  The first section was probably living space; the section added later was probably a carriage barn.  A 1900 photograph shows the west wing, with a center chimney and a porch extending about halfway along the north side, with large carriage doors to the west of the porch. At its maximum size the west wing was 22’6” deep by 44’ long.  

         The new west wing is more compact; it is 22’6”deep and 16’ long, almost the same size as the original west wing before the carriage sheds were added.  Like the 19^th century version, it has a 6’deep porch on the north side.  On the west end is another porch, built in the same style as the north porch.  This is the wheelchair accessible entrance, connected to the new parking lot on the south side of the building by a ramp.     

           There’s little evidence to show what the 19^th century west wing was like inside.  Since the historical interior can’t be recreated, this interior space is available to meet the town of Unity’s present needs.  The builders of the original west wing could not have imagined the wheelchair accessible restroom and the fireproof vault for the town records on the first floor, or the elevator to the second floor.  But they might be pleased to learn that people in Unity still like to read books and that the second floor of the new west wing will be part of our spacious new library.  (We’ll learn more about the new library in a future article.)

            As of the end of August, much of the outside work has been completed, and the project is on schedule and on budget.  All of the exterior siding except for the 200 year old clapboards on the north side of the original house have been painted pale gray, and most of the exterior trim has been painted cream.  All of the porches have been built, as well as the wheelchair ramp, and the new exterior doors have been hung.  The grading is finished and the parking lot has been spread with gravel.  The garage for the police cruiser has been framed and roofed and vertical wood siding is being installed.   

    

       Inside, there’s still much work to do.  The interior walls are framed but no new plasterboard has been installed.  (Sadly, little of the original plaster remains.)  The wide board floors are repaired but not refinished.   The original doors are being repaired as needed and new interior doors are being made.  Horizontal wainscoting has been installed in the tap room and the second floor room which will be the town library-- the only rooms which originally had wainscoting; some of which remains.)   The exposed beam ceiling in the taproom, which will be the selectmen’s’ meeting room, is the only ceiling which is completed.  No beams were left exposed in the original house, so all of the other ceiling beams will be covered, and the second floor ceilings will be insulated.   During the next two months, Unity residents who show up on the first or third Tuesday at 9:00 am to tour the project will be able to watch as the interior of the building takes shape, and each room begins to acquire its own character.

 

Information for this article was provided by Jim Romer and Jim Kahn, Pictures by Doug Lawson.