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Center chimney Colonials, a New England treasure! I saw the most amazing chimney in the basement of a home today, I actually went back to my car, got my camera and had to take pictures of this. This is an old New England center chimney Colonial, built in 1786. It is a very impressive size at over 2,500 square feet, although when you see the size of the chimney in the basement you can understand that the house would have to be big to house this monster! Center chimney Colonials were the first really distinctive style homes in New England.

I love antiques, and this one is certainly a home that someone could sink their teeth into. The house has 4 fireplaces that I can see. 3 downstairs and one smaller one upstairs. (I didn't get a picture of the upstairs one though.) I was wondering if there were more upstairs that have been walled over, I can't tell. The largest fireplace still has the beehive oven, I couldn't resist sticking my head inside and getting a shot off! The real treat? In the attic (which is amazing, I am going back to shoot more photos, the beams are awesome!) there is a smokehouse attached to the chimney! Plus another attic above the attic.

Of course, like any self respecting New England antique center chimney Colonial there are beautiful hand hewn beams all over and wonderful chestnut floors. I was drooling even though the house needs quite a bit of work.

As this was a working farm for years there are all sorts of old barns and buildings which gave me many photo opps. I will be going back when spring is here to get more photos for myself. There was an buggy parked out back, all I needed was a horse and I would have been all set! Across the street was the spring house which feeds water to the house. The water was crystal clear, it really is amazing.

I did a bit of research on the old center chimney Colonials, the funky staircases were very typical as they wrapped tightly around the chimneys. This one is no different. I was told that the banister and newel posts are believed to be original. I don't know about that, but it is pretty cool. The windows and doors were known as "bays", and you could tell if someone was prosperous by the amount of bays. As time went on it became the norm to have 5 "bays", 2 windows on each side and a front door.  Center chimney Colonials are very symmetrical, the rooms up and down mirrored each other, called 2 over 2.

There really is something quite special about a New England antique, I hope that this one finds someone who understands and appreciates its beauty and brings it back to the gem it must have been at one time. This one is on the market in Roxbury, CT for 1.3 million dollars, sits on 19 acres of pasture and wooded area. A real Connecticut beauty. I was pleasantly surprised by the lure of this wonderful center chimney Colonial I visited today!