Uncovering the True Age of a Historic House

Next, in the half-height basement, Tom noticed floor joists that were curiously advanced for what was supposed to be a 17th-century structure. "Back then, joists were just logs split in half, and floorboards were laid on the flat side," he explains. "But these joists were milled to a rectangular shape."

Intrigued by Tom's observations, everyone agreed that more study was needed. So the TOH team put local architectural historians Joseph Cornish and Anne Grady on the case. These two investigators, with their vast knowledge of early New England house styles, sussed out more clues that would help paint a clearer picture of just how old the house really was.

Shown: The beaded edge was likely added during construction after the beam was installed, says Tom Silva.