The Richard Burt House, Berkley, MA

	The house built by Richard Burt in Taunton, MA (now in Berkley) is a two story, timber-frame, English medieval style house with a gable roof, a full basement and a full attic. The house faces to the east. A plaque over the front door reads "Lindencroft 1663". At this point I have no idea why 1663 was chosen. At least part of the house was built between 1659 (when the division of land to the first settlers took place) and 1685 (when Richard Burt mentions the house in his will). I also don't know where or when the name "Lindencroft" originated.
	If the frame of the house is made of 6X6 or larger timbers connected by mortise and tenon joints and wooden pins, it's a timber frame. The timber frame was in use in the Eastern United States until the mid 19th century. English medieval style was prominent from 1603 until 1800.The house is built in an "L" shape with a center chimney in each "L".
	The close placement of the windows in the corner may indicate that a wall was added. In this case it's hard to tell just which wall may have been added.
	The chimneys are rusticated brick with perhaps a thin covering of plaster. Rustication, or grooves in the surface, is an early 18th century feature.
	This is the attic in the front part of the house looking up at the roof peak. There is no ridge pole and there are large wooden pins holding the two rafters together. The roof in the back section of the house does have a ridge pole; however, the timbers are smaller and more finished, not pegged, and you can see saw marks; they're not hand-hewn.
	The use of Roman numerals on the collar beam (lower timber) and the rafter means that these beams were most likely cut and shaped where it was convenient for the carpenter. They were marked so they could be properly fit together when assembled at the house site. This practice of marking was common in seventeenth century Massachusetts. I found these numerals in order all down the front or main part of the attic from south to north perhaps indicating that this part of the attic was all built at the same time.
	This is a close-up of the wooden pin joining two rafters. The pins were also known as "trunnels" or "tree nails". This is a perfect example of a mortise and tenon joint. The mortise and tenon joint was an economical and practical method of joining beams in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries instead of using handmade nails.
	This picture was taken in the northeast corner of the main house roof. What appears to be chalk marks are remnants of plaster and lath. Lath and plaster were used to finish the inside walls in seventeenth century homes. There would be no reason for lath and plaster in an attic; so these boards could have hung vertically on a wall in another part of the house. From the irregular size of the plaster remnants I infer that it was used with hand split, or riven, lath which was common until about 1825.
	This is a fireplace in the front chimney in the south bedroom on the second floor. The intricate paneling is colonial, but it is probably colonial revival from the twentieth century.
	This is the stairway in the main entry on the first floor in front of the front chimney. This staircase could be late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. Very early staircases were completely enclosed. When balusters were introduced, they were short and stubby and there was a panel covering where the balusters meet the stairs. This staircase has longer, though simple, balusters and no panel. There is another staircase in fron of the back chimney and that one is straight and enclosed.
	This looked to be the main cooking fireplace and was located in the back chimney. Behind the metal cabinet is a box or cabinet of some sort but I don't know if it was an oven or perhaps a warming area. The metal cabinet was too difficult to move. The mantel appears very plain. but I'm not sure this is original paneling.
	This is a wonderful brick beehive oven which was beside the fireplace, behind the previous one, in the back chimney in the "keeping room". The early ovens were built into the back of the fireplace and early in the eighteenth century ovens were built to the side of the fireplace.
	This is the entrance to a brick room under the back chimney perhaps used for cold storage. The stairs to the basement were in front of the brick chimney and under the back stairs. There are large flat stones and timbers supporting the chimney above.
	This is the front side of the front chimney. Note the very old log in the top left corner, stones, then large flat boards that may have formed the floor of the first floor.
	This is the brick face on the front part of the house. Both sides of the door have the same pattern of alternating rows of three stretchers (the long side of the brick) and one header (the short side of the brick. I deduce this to be English bond which was the typical pattern of brickwork in the seventeenth century. It was also popular during the Federal period (1780-1820). The brick seems to be in fairly good condition so again, it is difficult to tell if this is the original brick or if it was refaced at some point.

For me, the Richard Burt house contains many mysteries and puzzles to solve. I have much more reading and investigating to do. Please contact me if you can provide any clues! I take great pleasure in contemplating the lifestyle of my Massachusetts ancestors!