Captain David Pugh House

A Historic Homestead in Hooks Mills, West Virginia

The Captain David Pugh House: Interior

The front door opens into a central hallway about 10 feet wide. Ahead to the right an open newelled half-turn staircase ascends to the second floor. Ahead to the left the hall continues to the rear door that opens out onto the lower veranda. A door above it opens out from the staircase landing onto the upper veranda. The staircase continues up to the attic door.

Staircase Looking Up From First Floor

Staircase Trim And Baluster Detail

The original 1835 house had four equal-sized 19 by 15 foot rooms, two on each floor, one to each side of the hall. Each room has a fireplace with a custom-made mantelpiece. Each mantelpiece is unique, decreasing in elaborateness from the lower south room to the upper north room, but each includes the same horizontal "fin" decoration that also appears on the exterior under the eaves. The lower south mantelpiece details include scalloped molding around the molded shelf, three radially fluted medallions, and two pairs of fluted columns.

Lower South Mantelpiece

Mantelpiece Detail

The south end rooms each have six windows, two each on the west, south, and east sides. The north rooms each have four windows, two each on the west and east; the original north end windows were removed when the 1910 addition was installed. The walls and ceilings are finished in plaster over wood lathe, and all have a 4-inch chair rail that doubles as the windowsill, and a 7-inch baseboard. This trim is a little more elaborate on the first floor. The ceiling height is 8' 8"" on the first floor and 7' 9" on the second. The floors are 4" - 6" width pine boards.

Door Molding Detail

When the addition was added circa 1910 the original north ends were each modified in that the easternmost window on the north was plastered over, and the westernmost window was converted to a doorway to the addition. On the first floor, there are two steps down 1' 6" from the original house to the addition. In fact, there an area where the step is worn from the almost 100 years of foot traffic since the addition was built.

Wear In Step From Addition to Main House

The addition first floor has a ceiling height of 7' and the walls are 6" - 11" beaded-edge boards and the ceiling consists of wood boards. The addition was divided into two rooms on each floor, one in front (west) and one in back (east). There is a back staircase on the north end. A bathroom has been added on each floor. The second floor has a ceiling height of 6' 4", and there are 5 steps down 3' 4" from the original house second floor to the addition. The second floor walls and ceilings are 5-1/2" pine boards with a raised-edge detail. Both floors of the addition are made of pine boards, 6-1/2" wide one the first floor and 5-1/2 on the second.

In the attic of the original portion of the house the rafters are rough cut and are pegged together at the top with hand-carved wooden pegs. There are roman numerals chiseled into the matching rafters -- we have been told that this is because the builders would assemble the rafters together on the ground and mark the mating pieces, then reassemble the pieces 'by the numbers' up on top of the second floor.

Numbered Attic Rafter

Hand-Hewn Attic Rafters and Pegs