Cellars vs. Basements

We have a basement floor! 

Concrete trucks arrive, contractors depend on them

The floor in process, who knew cement could be beautiful?!

It is amazing to think of the old stone foundation and dirt floor and the contrast.  I wish I had taken more photos of the old cellar but it was dark and moldy and wet (the pictures still remain pretty clear in my mind).  The half-timbered joists were not that big, still covered in bark and were punky with dry rot.  The dirt floor was uneven with puddles in places.  The walls had places where stones had tumbled down letting in daylight from gaps near the base of the house. 

We went down there with a contractor back in 2018 who was able to slide a knife into the beams since they were so soft.  He said it was not safe to support the floors.  In fact, there were some beams that had fallen under the fireplace room of the Saltbox house.  The firefighters (I worked with on the controlled burn) didn’t want to walk there or conduct any of their work from that area because of risk of floor collapse. 

I went down there with the town assessor in 2024 who ended up categorizing the house at the lowest level of condition, needing significant repair.  I wish we were rich enough to do a proper historical repair and restoration, but I knew at the very least the house would need jacking up to repair that stone foundation and all of the joists replaced.  Step by step, teasing apart the old place to see what could be saved and restored but replace the parts where the structural integrity was lost was beyond our budget. 

Maybe an out-of-state wealthy person would spot this gem and be able to afford it.  But I wanted it to stay in the family.  I have an appreciation for this house design, a reverence for the memories of the family, and a desire to bring as much of the original back to life as possible. 

Of course, it is sad to lose that part of history.  Think of the real people in the late 1700s who lifted and lowered those stones into place- sweating, feeling the pull of muscles in their backs and arms, and scrapes on their knuckles.  But I am bolstered by the fact that Harry Cooley was always one to appreciate progress. He would surprise me with his clear-headed thinking about ‘the good ole days’.  They were hard.  He said he would choose not to go back. 

Harry Cooley owner of the Ridge Road House after purchasing it from Samuel Day in 1952. The house was just down the road from the Cooley Farm.

Work on the new house using the original footprint of the house is still hard and back-breaking, workers sweating through their progress.  I feel lucky that there are still contractors out there willing to do this kind of work on a ‘small’ basis…house by house. 

Joe Bertrand in the foreground still gets dirty even as the leader of his own contracting business

Joe Bertrand, owner of Central Vermont Building & Design, centralvtbuildingdesign@gmail.com believes in quality and won’t skimp or cut corners on that.  This will be a house that still stands for my granddaughters and other family members to enjoy. He has a small team of experienced builders that include family members. His uncle still does concrete after 54 years. He says it is getting harder and harder to find young workers who are willing to do this kind of backbreaking work.

Thank you to Phil Godenschwager for these photos. I am so fortunate to have his involvement as the architectural drawer who has provided us with plans to match the original house. He arrived this a.m. to provide the builder with details on the house trim with its unique exterior crown molding, so special to the old house.