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Article:
Small Town Stone House With A Long History by: Mercedes Hayes As a native Midwesterner, the first thing I noticed when moving to the Delaware Valley was the enormous number of fieldstone houses. Frankly, I'd never seen such a thing. What people in the East take for granted is a matter of wonder for the rest of us who grew up in much younger cities. This house is currently offered for sale, and it's a delight to visit a residence that has been restored with every attention to detail. But the transformation didn't come easy! The depth of knowledge (and pockets) to pull off such a project can be daunting. However, this magnificent stone house in the small town of Sergeantsville, NJ proves that such a renovation can have tremendous rewards, and it is waiting for a new owner who will carry on the tradition. The current owner, Charles Frischmann, was just the man to take on the project. Organist, music professor, historian, antique collector, Charles had already restored two stone houses and was ready to take on the third. He had learned much from the previous undertaking, and this one didn't even give him pause. The previous owner had already begun some of the restoration. The 10-foot wide stone fireplace had been turned into a closet; the panels needed to be removed, and the wood stove was installed. An expansive kitchen/dining area was added on to the rear of the house, using antique barnwood beams in the ceiling and exposing the stone on the interior wall. Because the only entrance to the basement was originally an exterior entrance, it has now become a trap door in the kitchen floor. But that was only a first step. All the old doorways and window frames needed replacement. 'The new windows are all hand-built in the 18th-century style, and have early glass in them,' Charles explained. He found period hardware for the doors and windows, and added working shutters that are so tight they practically create a vacuum seal when closed. He also fitted removable custom storm windows to the inside of the frames, to make this period house more energy-efficient. Although probably original, the front doors had been cut and fitted with windows, which didn't really work for the house. To improve this look, Charles commissioned new doors and period-style paneled doorways to take the place of the weathered jambs. When removing the old door frames, they discovered that early on - probably in the 1830's - someone had done a significant renovation to the house. The floor had been raised about nine inches, apparently to make more headroom in the cellar. Although the owner has not been able to trace the house sales back farther than '1857
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