CEDARWOOD

PORTER HOUSE RESTORATION

   Restoration of the Porter House, an antebellum house listed in the National Register of Historic Places located at 233 Oak Street in Raymond, was recently completed by Jeannie and Bob Chunn to save it from virtually certain total disintegration at its original site approximately three miles from Raymond.

After the purchase of the house in May, 2004, several months of activity to prepare for the house to be moved followed. Rotten sills were replaced, the floor joist system was strengthened, walls were braced, and the roof was removed. A circa 1900 orchestral grand piano was firmly fixed in place. An experienced house moving company was engaged to carefully carry out the transport of the two sections of the house to the new site behind the Courthouse in Raymond.

Meantime, the lot in Raymond (which had not been occupied for 25-30 years) had to be cleared by bulldozer and backhoe. Foundation trenches were dug, rebar put in place, and a concrete foundation was poured to the exact measurements of the house.

The lot, most recently owned by Robert A. Biggs, Jr., has its own interesting history, as in 1844 it was the site of a girls school, known as the Methodist Female Seminary,  which served as a Union hospital following the 1863 Battle of Raymond. Unfortunately, all vestiges of the school buildings are gone except what appears to be some foundation stones.

At the appointed time when all preparations had been made, the Porter House was moved to its new site. The move was an exciting effort, and many Raymond residents turned out to watch. Both sections of the house were moved over two days 1.2 miles down a specially improved dirt road, down Highway 18 and Hinds Boulevard, then back up Clinton-Raymond Road and to Court Street.

Once in place, the two sections were leveled and brick piers built to support the front, circa 1850, structure. The circa 1830 rear ell is once again supported by the original native stones thought to have been quarried at nearby Mississippi Springs. When the original roof rafters had been put back in place, a new roof was installed. Then the tedious restoration of the house commenced. The original stone fireplace had been taken down and the stones moved to the new site and the fireplace reconstructed as a part of the project. Heart pine floors and ceilings were cleaned and refinished. The total restoration of the house was completed in the fall of 2005.

PORTER HOUSE ARCHITECTURAL DETAIL

The Porter House technically consists of two separate structures joined at the respective front and back porches. The south facing front house (ca. 1850) rests on brick piers and is 1 ½ stories with a 5 bay wide full-width inset gallery. It has side gable peaks featuring brick chimneys, and rests on brick columns. The front gallery is supported by six wooden box columns with molded capitals, four of which are original and two are replications replacing missing originals. Indications of the missing columns were present on the boxed porch beam. The front gallery is enclosed by a replicated rail and balustrades replacing the missing originals, the ghost marks of which were found on the original columns. The façade of the house is finished in horizontal tongue-and-groove hand planed boards with baseboard. The entrance is located in the front central bay, is flanked by sidelights, and has a pedimented surround. Pedimented lintels also cap the four front six over six walk-through jib windows. The front doorway consists of a single wooden 4-panel 8 foot door flanked by 8 pane sidelights.

The east side of the front structure has two upstairs six over six (replacement) windows flanking a chimney and two (6/6 and 4/4) large original windows downstairs. William M. Standard acquired the property on which the Porter House originally stood in 1850, and it was likely he who constructed the one and one-half story front house in the then popular Greek Revival architectural style. The circa 1850 front house is unique in the Raymond area in that, unlike the typical Greek Revival house, it is only one room deep. Behind one of the front rooms, and occupying a part of what would otherwise have been the back porch (or gallery), is an original cabinet room (from the French, meaning "small room"). The rear of the front house presents one four over four large original window (in a cabinet room) and a glassed-in porch across the remainder of the rear façade.   The roof line of the rear of the front house has a new shed dormer (with two one-over-one double hung windows) which accommodates the added upstairs bathrooms. The west side of the house has two upstairs six over six (replacement) windows flanking a chimney and one six over six large original window downstairs.

The rear ell of the house (ca. 1830) faces east and on its south end joins the northwest corner of the front structure. The rear ell is supported by brick piers and original stacked stone piers and is fronted by a gallery porch across the length of the structure. The porch is supported by six wooden box columns with molded capitals, three of which are original. The rear structure has side gable peaks featuring a fireplace chimney on each end. The north end has a replacement brick chimney resting on the reconstructed original stone foundation; the south end features the reconstructed entirely inset stone fireplace. The entrance is a simple federal style five-panel wooden door adjoining a large nine-over-nine window. On each side of the entrance is a pair of four-over-four double hung windows. The west façade of the rear ell is centered by an inset screened porch which is entered through the primary rear exit from the rear structure. This exit mirrors the entrance with a simple federal style five-panel wooden door adjoining a large nine-over-nine double hung window. The south face of the rear structure presents a four-over-four double hung window and a magnificent native stone fireplace chimney.

It probably originated as a pioneer's one-room cabin built at about the time of the founding of the City of Raymond. The original one-room structure was more than likely built in the late 1820s or early 1830s by Samuel Hancock as a squatter's cabin constructed with floor joists of logs hewn on only a single side on a stacked stone foundation and hand-rived pine shingle roof. The original foundation stones and log floor joists support the oldest part of the house even today.

Over the next decade or so, another room and central hall were added, creating the classic "dogtrot" arrangement. Over time, portions of the rear porch were enclosed to create two additional rooms. This structure, which comprises the rear ell of the house, was renovated in the later part of the 19th century with extensive use of bead board, some of which remains.

The interior of the front ca. 1850 structure consists of the one room deep arrangement mentioned in the original National Register listing. Two large rooms (parlor on the east and dining room on the west) flank a 12' wide center hall. Each of the primary downstairs rooms features a pair of walk-through jib windows on the front, a large secondary side six-over-six window, and a fireplace with original hand-planed pine mantle. Each downstairs room of the front house has the original heart pine floors, original unpainted hand-planed heart pine ceilings and shouldered pediments on the doors and windows. Interior walls in the front house are painted sheetrock over pine planks. Behind the parlor is a cabinet room with two large four-over-four windows.

The interior face of the entrance doorway is highlighted by hand fabricated dentil work above the door. On the opposite end of the center hall is an opening flanked by pilasters and topped by a six-paned transom which leads to the glass enclosed rear porch. The interior wall of the glassed porch is original painted horizontal tongue-and-grooved hand planed boards. On one side of the central hall is the completely original stairway, featuring the original stringer, treads and risers, the original single-piece rail from bottom to top and original rectangular balustrades.

The upstairs arrangement duplicates that of the main portion of the downstairs. The stairway leads to the upstairs central hall, which is flanked by a bedroom on each side. The wood plank batten door to the east upstairs bedroom is original to the house; the west bedroom door is a replica (utilizing materials from a disassembled batten door located elsewhere in the house), replacing the original which was missing. Each of the bedrooms has a pair of replacement six-over-six windows flanking a fireplace, and a private bath with window which together occupy the shed dormer on the north roof of the front structure. Each bath has antique heart pine flooring not original to the house. Each bath also provides a tub/shower enclosure, toilet and sink in cabinet. The upstairs hall and bedrooms have all original heart pine flooring. The bedroom walls and ceilings are original hand-planed board and batten. Each of the bedrooms has its original fireplace mantle. Between each of the bedrooms and the upstairs center hall are transoms filed with new etched glass.

Significant architectural features of the front house include the two (replacement) chimneys serving four fireplaces, the 5-bay full length inset gallery, the classic Greek Revival two and four-panel 8 foot doors, 13 foot ceilings, dentil work surmounting the interior entranceway, original hand-planed heart pine floors and ceilings (and walls in the upstairs rooms), cabinet room, and four walk-through jib windows.

Entry into the rear ell is through the striking federal era door into a center hall with refinished 1880s bead board walls, painted 1880s bead board ceiling and replacement antique heart pine floor boards. Opposite the entrance door is another federal door which leads to the screened porch with its original wide plank wood walls. Steps from the west side of the screened porch lead to the back yard of the rear ell. To the north of the central hall is the bedroom, which has replacement wide board wood walls, pine flooring and new board and batten ceiling. The new materials in the bedroom replaced 1880s bead board which had rotted due to exposure to the elements. Off the northern end of the bedroom is an added closet. To the west through the northwest wall of the bedroom is the bathroom, finished with natural stone floor and counter tops, natural stone shower, bead board walled water closet and laundry room. To the west of the central hall is the library, the primary focal point of which is the massive stone inset fireplace. The library has painted 1880s bead board walls and ceiling and pine flooring. West of the library is a reconstructed kitchen replacing an earlier one which was deteriorated beyond repair. The kitchen has antique wood flooring, three painted sheetrock walls and one original wide plank wood board wall. Modern appliances and cabinets are found in the kitchen. Two modern one-over-one windows overlook the back yard.

Principal historic architectural features of the rear ell structure are the massive stone fireplace, as well as Federal era doors and nine-over-nine windows in the center hall and 1880s bead board walls and ceilings. While not now outwardly visible, the primitive construction materials, techniques and methods attest to the circa 1830 origin of the Porter House.