The manor-house was not a mansion. Built sometimes of
rough-hewn timber, but more commonly of stone, it was
roomy and comfortable, although not much more pretentious
than the homes of well-to-do habitants. Three or four
rooms on the ground floor with a spacious attic made up
the living quarters. The furniture often came from France,
and its quality gave the whole interior an air of
distinction. As for the habitants, their homes were also
of stone or timber--long and rather narrow structures,
heavily built, and low. They were whitewashed on the
outside with religious punctuality each spring. The eaves
projected over the walls, and high-peaked little dormer
windows thrust themselves from the roof here and there.
The houses stood very near the roadway, with scarcely
ever a grass plot or single shade tree before them. In
midsummer the sun beat furiously upon them; in winter
they stood in all their bleakness full-square to the
blasts that drove across the river.
Behind the house was a storeroom built in 'lean-to'
fashion, and not far away stood the barn and stable, made
usually of timbers laid one upon the other with chinks
securely mortared. Somewhat aloof was the root-house,
half dug in the ground, banked generously with earth
round about and overhead. Within convenient distance of
the house, likewise, was the bake-oven, built of boulders,
mortar, and earth, with the wood-pile near by. Here with
roaring fires once or twice each week the family baking
was done.
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