Wednesday, August 31, 2011

HEY LOOK: I found a beehive oven under my fireplace mantle!


Hope to complete my Homestead project like this
with the inclusion of my new find
  A Beehive Oven!

It looked like this (below) -loved it, but needed love
yet easy to decorate for the seasons...
but
Bored with no electricity during the weekend storm
we decided to tear down the boards on my kitchen fireplace,


and discovered the original fireplace

 

dating to when the Brayton Homestead was built in
1796.


I already knew there was a brick cubby for wood,
it had a door out of the same boards as the fireplace.
Have wanted to take down the boards for such a long time but knew it would
it was any one's guess to what would be lurking behind ...


voila!
first found a great cupboard with a cool round latch
but still have not concluded what was it's use...


then found the beehive oven -originally known as a baking oven. now called
beehive oven because of it's shape


a peak inside the beehive oven... 


the jagged bricks are intentional for the heat of the fireplace to be transported to the oven.


here original wood piece and very old wallpaper...


an original kitchen like this would have been called the keeping room. 
This is what I have left to work with,
what a challenge!
I have a few ideas- do you have any?

Karen

13 comments:

agnesofgod said...

that is great Karen. I am sure you will make it totally beautiful and historic.

Curtains in My Tree said...

What a great find

and I love your little doggie so cute

I would have to know what else is under that paneling

time worn interiors said...

Wow! What a great find! You could have your own brick oven pizza now! It's the best pizza in the world.
tot

Ann@A Sentimental Life said...

No ideas but how wonderful to discover some history about your wonderful house!

Annie said...

Oh,I just love to find hidden history. What an exciting find! I see that Krumpet was helping in the discovery. He looks so proud.

L'Heure Bleue At Home said...

What a fantastic find! So inspirational.

Tami said...

How wonderful...gotta love the treasure that one finds behind walls. What a dandy of a treasure too!!

Debra@CommonGround said...

Oh my goodness, look what kind of thing you do when you're bored!! This is amazing, Karen, and it looks like Krumpet's excited too! Looks like a little work, but I'm really looking forward to see how you do this, thanks for linking up! xoxo Debra

French Basketeer.com said...

Wow Karen, this is fascinating! Thanks for stopping by; I'm off to the market soon but will check out some of your older posts. I LOVE old homes and the stories they tell!

Deborah March said...

History in the making...LUCKY you!! Looking forward to seeing the restoration!

Deborah (happily visiting from http://upcyclingmylife.blogspot.com)

The Charm of Home said...

Oh, wow! I would so restore this! Is your fireplace working still? You could actually use it if the electricity went off. Two winters ago Western KY saw the worst ice storm on record. My dad (the original charming home) had a working wood burner in the basement and they heated the whole house and cooked on it for over two weeks till the power was restored. It could really be handy! And a gorgeous focal point in the room.
Thanks for joining HSH!
Sherry

Anonymous said...

What an amazing find!!! You lucky duck!! I can't wait to see the "after" pictures!

Melissa said...

How cool!!! I would love to live in a house with so much history!!!