New England Revival Early American (1600-1725)
The wealth of large pine in the New England forests made the decision to build wooden framed, center chimney homes an easy one for the early colonists. Wide boards, joined together with a simple tongue and groove were used as interior wall sheathing in the homes. As time progressed and the housewrights first selection of moulding planes grew, the profile on the wide boards became more decorative. Single and double bead edges on random width wide boards were the most common. A feathered edge with a bead, cove or chamfer was also popular. Bingham Lumbers New England Revival Showroom has three room settings with all fine profiles shown finished in historic colors.
Although history has shown that oak flooring was used in the earliest of homes, it was the plentiful Eastern White Pine and Northern Hard Pine of the region that became the flooring of choice for colonists. The random width floors boasted runs twenty inches plus! The tried and true old pine floors that we see today lend a sense of pride in our forefather’s good sense in using the renewable resources at hand centuries ago.
