The Basement

The basement was unfinished when the Pattersons moved into the house in 1968. Two years later, they were able to finish out the space, which included an impressive stone fireplace. We were in complete awe the first time we saw it.

As we began our own renovation work, a few of the stones closest to the back door came loose. After investigating further, we determined that the heavy stones were not secured well and therefore made the decision to take them down. That led to us having to completely reconstruct the fireplace. We took out the cement blocks covering the firebox so that we could assess it. In doing so, we found a small time-capsule left behind by the Pattersons…the date 1970 and a peace sign were carved into the cement. We ended up resealing the smoke stack, but our brick mason surprised us by adding back the same date and symbol into the cement. Both versions can be seen in the pictures below.