This 1999 photograph shows a circular decorative design in the ceiling of the central hallway of the old farmhouse on the Michael Korns, Sr. Southampton Township, Somerset County, PA family homestead. It appears that a light was suspended from the center of the decoration at one time. This photograph was taken from ground level, shooting through the central doorway on the front of the house. Note the post-circa 1825-1835 sawn lath and plaster ceiling construction (elsewhere determined to be secured with wire nails that weren't used in the United States until circa 1886). Also note the doorway to the right, and the stairwell to the left (look at lower third of picture).
Looking closely, you can see that the siding on the lower part of the front of the house is different from the overlapped siding on the rear of the house. The siding on the rear of the house is beveled and overlapped, while the siding seen here beside the front first story doorway is tongue and groove. Also, note the exposed nail on the left, where the siding is missing. This is a round-headed wire nail, which wasn't used in the United States until circa 1886, whereas nails from the east end of the house are headless machine-cut square nails. An enlargement of the nail from the front of the house is shown below. Other images of the front of the house clearly show the siding being retained by round-headed nails. This difference in siding and nails on the front (south) side of the house, by virtue of the nails, indicates post-circa-1885 remodeling. Curiously, another photo shows that there were actually three different types of siding on the front of the house; click here to see the photo.
It would have been difficult to completely re-side the north side of the house, assuming the addition was already in place, because the addition was built on top of the siding. Nevertheless, there are several different types of siding on the rear of the house; click here for a photo.
At least the lower portion of the east end of the house also had tongue and groove siding; click here click here for a photo taken at the south corner of the east wall.
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