Old staircase question

[chris9b (WavyGlass)]

Wavyglass has been a great resource for us. Our house is C.1729. We are trying piece together the history of the property. We will be adding an addition and want to keep the integrity of the original house. The Form B completed on the house noted that the back staircase was added at a later date. We do not know when, however, 1790 appears to be a date when work may have been done to the house.

Hidden behind the door at the entrance to the basement we found a simple chamfer and what looks like a roll stop. This supports the back stair noted above which also has a decorative handrail. We believe the newel post and handrail are pumpkin pine. I have attached a few images.

We have other chamfered timbers and decorative stops in the house, but these appear to be from re-used timbers. The stair case detail does not appear to be re-used. Is this stair common to 1790, could it be original 1729? Could the stair case be re-used and maybe taken from another property? Any insight would be appreciated. Our plans for the addition could impact this stair, but if this is original to the property we want to preserve it.

[img=left]http://thomashyde.weebly.com/uploads/4/5/2/4/45246235/6280414.jpg[/img]
[img=left]http://thomashyde.weebly.com/uploads/4/5/2/4/45246235/7310616.jpg[/img]
[img=left]http://thomashyde.weebly.com/uploads/4/5/2/4/45246235/4620961.jpg[/img]
[img=left]http://thomashyde.weebly.com/uploads/4/5/2/4/45246235/6390884.jpg[/img]

[Neighmond]

Pretty! I am ignorant of colonial houses but I know pretty when I see it!

[chris9b (WavyGlass)]

I took a bunch more pictures of the stairway down to the basement and also of the basement structure. They can be found here: http://thomashyde.weebly.com/history.html Its in the second set of pictures below the attic.

My original question was: The stair case detail does not appear to be re-used. Is this stair common to 1790, could it be original 1729? Could the stair case be re-used and maybe taken from another property? Any insight would be appreciated. Our plans for our addition could impact this stair, but if this is original to the property we want to preserve it.

Thank You

[Mick_VT]

I took a bunch more pictures of the stairway down to the basement and also of the basement structure. They can be found here: http://thomashyde.weebly.com/history.html Its in the second set of pictures below the attic.

My original question was: The stair case detail does not appear to be re-used. Is this stair common to 1790, could it be original 1729? Could the stair case be re-used and maybe taken from another property? Any insight would be appreciated. Our plans for our addition could impact this stair, but if this is original to the property we want to preserve it.

Thank You

To my untrained eye it certainly has all the characteristics of an original stair - its at least 18th century to my mind. I would certainly not remove or alter it even if not original.

[chris9b (WavyGlass)]

I took a bunch more pictures of the stairway down to the basement and also of the basement structure. They can be found here: http://thomashyde.weebly.com/history.html Its in the second set of pictures below the attic.

My original question was: The stair case detail does not appear to be re-used. Is this stair common to 1790, could it be original 1729? Could the stair case be re-used and maybe taken from another property? Any insight would be appreciated. Our plans for our addition could impact this stair, but if this is original to the property we want to preserve it.

Thank You

To my untrained eye it certainly has all the characteristics of an original stair - its at least 18th century to my mind. I would certainly not remove or alter it even if not original.

Thanks Mick_vt, we certainly won't remove it, but part of the addition could have meant we would not use this basement entry. If this turns out to be original, we certainly would like to keep access and maintain the integrity of the home. Thanks again. FYI I updated some of the links on the site, so the above one is now dead. This one works: http://thomashyde.weebly.com/house-detail.html