Brad, As you said, there are many ornate old style construction homes, especially in the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys of NY. There are many locally harvested stone houses, barns, Forts, churches, etc. all around the area. The stone part of the barns usually were constructed with cut stone buried about frost line 3-4' below ground level and extended above ground to about 7-8' high. On top of the cut stone wall the barn was constructed from locally harvested timber. Basswood was a very common specie used because of it's prevelance and workability. Oak, Ash, Pine, and Hemlock were also widely used in barn, home and factory construction. Dutch imigrints had a strong influence here in the Mohawk / Letherstocking region of NY. This construction was distinctive with simple Post & beam design, with gable roofs, and small eve and gable rake overhangs. Post and beam barns were simply erected using a series of "Bents" (a framework of hand hued beams and rafters joined from side to side with toung and mortises, pined together with wooden pegs) and set into mortises on a sill beam atop the wall, in series, to form bays. THe roofs were all covered with cedar shakes. To move on to your question the houses that you refer to were built by wealthy Industraialists, and land owners who chose to display their wealth. In this area they were owners of leather and textile mills all up and down the valley. Most of our town here was owned originally by George Hyde Clark, a loyalist, and the land was Granted to him by King George III of England.(Google it). To get back on track to answer your question, many of these mansions whether, wood or stone construction shared the common, to the eye ,"sunken roofs. They were not flat but the roof behind the butrus walls, were tapered to SKUFFERS, which were connected with lead, or copper pipe to the "central core/grand stairway" and channeled the roof water to sisterns in the cellar to supply water for not only daily needs , but for the steam boilers during the winter heating season. Many of these tapered roofs were constructed from sodered copper or slate. Most of the copper scuffers were formed up and over the exterior butrus walls to cover the freeze trims or cut stone, to keep water from penetrating the walls at the top. To add a bit to the conctruction of the wood framed mansions, most were balloon framed, with long studs extending as much as three stories with notches cut in them and a "lay" let into them to support floor joists, and yes there was a lot of support under these roofs from the walls of all the tiny rooms in them. Sorry for the long post, I spent several yrs. running a crane for 3 companies that relocated many of the old "dutch barns" in the area, and then many more as a contractor restoring a couple of these clasic mansions. Perhaps when I get time I can scan and post some pics. of what we did, several years back. Loren , the Acg.
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