After a century of more of having only a dirt floor in the basement, the Lee-Fendall House Museum has made a major improvement. The entire basement has now been given a brick floor.
These bricks, prepared in 1785 during the original construction of the house, had been part of the east fence of the property. Unfortunately, in 2020, more than half of that brick wall collapsed, leaving 69 tons of stone and clay brick in a heap of rubble.
While it was not possible for the museum to reconstruct the fence, we have now carefully stabilized the remaining portion of the wall with steel supports. And, instead of disposing of these historic bricks, we have used them to enhance the appearance and functionality of the basement.
“There are numerous interpretable features within the basement,” said Executive Director Shawn Eyer. “Having a solid pavement in the space may be useful when spotlighting those elements of the house.”
While the basement is not part of our regular tour, further updates may allow for the area to be explored on special tours yet to be developed.