Let it Snow!

After three straight days of steady snow ... South Meadow was left a Winter Wonderland.

Check out how last week's Ice Storm left our usually babbling brook:

And has become tradition, we'll leave you with some images of baby Moses -- snapped over the snowy weekend:

Home-stretch

Yes, activity on this blog has slowed. But, activity at the Joseph Maynard Project has not.

As you know, the exterior of the main house has been painted … and what a difference it made! Long gone are the days of the “aquamarine beacon” on South Meadow. To our neighbors: You’re welcome :)

The developments being made inside this week are particularly exciting – especially in the kitchen. Our custom-built cabinets and island by New England Country are nearly finished and ready for installation … and the millwork is underway.

Also – our handmade, punched-tin kitchen lighting by JR.Coppersmythe has arrived and is waiting to be hung.

Kitchen photos coming soon. For now, we'll leave you with some pics of baby Moses.

And then there was light ...

... an off-white light, 'lead glass' to be exact.

Still a lot of work to be done, but it's amazing to see the difference few coats of paint make!

The Joseph Maynard Project welcomes ... Moses

Meet Moses, the newest member of The Joseph Maynard Project ...

This & That

Work in the kitchen continues as New England Country builds and installs the cabinets. Here is the very beginings of one unit. The cabinetry is being built from antique lumber salvaged from the second story of our home.

Also, we're busy upstairs exectuing a creative finishing technique on the walls. Below you can see the begining of the process we devised to give the walls an aged look. These colors will merely peak through like old coats of paint when we are finished.

Lastly, New England Country is currently constructing a built-in bench/entertainment unit under the window in our guest room. This piece is being built with pieces of the old barn door -- which was broken and unusable in its former role. Photos to come.

Crash Causes Close Call

Last night was an eventful and scary night at the Joseph Maynard Project. One that will definitely be ingrained into our memories.

While hand-sanding some floors on the second story of the house, between 8-9p.m., we heard a loud crashing noise. Immediately we ran down stairs and checked the barn, thinking an animal was causing some ruckus. When nothing seemed out of place, we were stumped … and looked around in confusion.

We noticed a car had pulled off the road just past our home. A passerby was emerging from the vehicle yelling for someone to call 911. It was then we noticed a van on the other side of the road. It had careened off the road, over a metal guard rail and cement posts, down the embankment and landed on its side, face down in the brook – practically in our lawn.

We called 911.

Eric climbed down into the brook to try to determine who was in the van and what condition they were in.

One male. He was talking. That was a relief. But we knew he had to be pretty banged up. Neighbors started to gather. We kept him talking until the rescue team arrived.




















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It was a relief to see the professionals on the scene and we were impressed with the manner and speed in which the they worked. It makes us feel a bit safer knowing how quick they were to respond.

Finally, the rescue team was able to free the man by cutting out the windshield of the van. While moving the victim to the ambulance, he cried out for his dog.

A dog?! In that van? We hoped for the best.

Minutes later a fireman emerged from the vehicle holding a Springer Spaniel … seemingly in good condition. The rescue team gave the frightened, shaking dog a good once-over and determined it had no major injuries. We happily took her into the house and gave her some TLC. She stayed with us overnight, until the Lancaster Animal Control Officer came to fetch her this morning.

We still don’t know the dog’s name, but enjoyed our time with her and know that she and her master are both very lucky to be pulled from wreck alive.

How do ya like them apples?

There are more on the ground than left in the tree ...

Stained

The staining begins ...

Home Stretch

Yesterday was a wild day at The Joseph Maynard Project -- with the plumbers, electricians and septic guys all busy at work. Here's some photos of the action:

Basnett Plumbing & Heating helped install our very heavy laundry room sink, and got the other sinks and toiletts hooked up throughout the house. (Fun Fact: Basnett worked on the recent ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition project filmed in Maynard, MA this past Spring).

laundry room:

beginings of kitchen sink set up:

Basnett crew:

D.M.H. Electrical Contractors showed us the light ... literally. We have light fixtures now working in most of the house.

Clark Excavation continues work on our septic system.

We're Floored

It’s been very, very busy inside of the Joseph Maynard Project as we ready the house to move in (yes, we are almost there!).

A couple of highlights:

Last weekend our flooring – milled from pine logs in Brimfield, MA – was delivered. After hand beveling more than 600 feet of boards to achieve the look we desire, we’ve laid most of the floor. And it’s looking great!

Take a a peak at some of the (still unfinished) boards that we’ve installed (above and right).

Also, we’ve salvaged some great antique wood from the loft floor in our barn. New England Country plans to use the old, worn boards for furniture and cabinetry throughout our home. This will perfectly compliment our modern, farmhouse style.

Lastly, we’ve been giving our walls a bit of attention as well – with an Early-American style plaster technique by New England Country. Photos coming soon.

If it looks like a house ...

Our wood siding is here! The rest will go up over the next couple of weeks and then be painted. But, as you can see ... it's looking more and more like a house everyday. Also, making good progress inside as each room is drywalled.

Pushing Ahead

It’s been a busy few weeks at The Joseph Maynard Project, and an even a busier weekend (a HUGE thanks to Nathan & Sam for the tireless help). More rotted siding came down and some new trim went up … making the house look neater by the day.

Over the past couple weeks; the new kitchen area has seen many changes. In addition to new windows (and some really unique antique ones as well) the bones of the room are taking shape. Things are moving quickley, so expect to see even more updates in the coming weeks.

We were also glad to meet some more of our neighbors this weekend, this time heralding from Old Hickory Rd. Thanks for stopping by!

Will the Real Joseph Maynard Please Stand Up?

Friend and former Topaz colleague, Todd Van Hoosear, was recently inspired to do a bit of digging into the past – to help us identify the “real” Joseph Maynard.

While the true identity of “our” Joseph Maynard is still a mystery, with Todd’s assistance, we’ve narrowed it down to two likely candidates. Take a look at Todd’s discoveries below, which detail the Joseph Maynards and their families. Thanks Todd!

"There is a lot known about the Maynard family, but little known about which Joseph built this house. Most certainly, the owner was a descendant of John Maynard, born in England between about 1598 and 1610 – the accounts vary. According to the "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts," he was a farmer and a "malster" or "maltster," a manufacturer of malt, used in the brewing of beer. He married first in England, and his first two sons John Jr. and Joseph, were also born in England, circa 1625 and 1635. His first wife's name was Elizabeth Aston. She is said to have died in Cambridgeshire, England, around 1638, and thus likely did not accompany John to America. His son John Jr. did accompany him to the Colonies, but it is not known if second son Joseph did.

By 1634, John Sr. was practicing his trade in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was one of the forty-seven petitioners who divided the Sudbury Meadows in 1638. He is listed as one of the town's founders, and became a selectman there in 1646. He married his second wife, Mary Axtell of Sudbury, in 1646. John and Mary had four children: Zechary (or Zachary) (b. June 7, 1647), Elizabeth (b. May 26, 1649), Lydia, Hannah (b. Sept. 20, 1653) and Mary (b. August 3, 1656). John Sr. died on December 10, 1672.

John Jr. married Mary Gates, daughter of Stephen and Anna Gates, early settlers of Hingham, Lancaster and Cambridge. They lived in Sudbury until 1657, at which time they most likely moved to Marlborough – where he is listed as one of the town's original petitioners and grantees. They had 11 children, the last eight of which were born in Marlborough.

John Sr.'s most famous descendant may be the Revolutionary War hero Captain John Maynard. John was born in Framingham on May 14, 1753 to Joseph and Abigail (Jennings) Maynard. According to the "Memorials of the Society of the Cincinnati of Massachusetts," he served as an "Acting ensign in Nixon's regiment at the battle of Bunker's Hill, where he was wounded, and being unable to walk was borne to Cambridge by his brother, Hon. Needham Maynard." He was commissioned a lieutenant in Greaton's 3rd regiment on November 11, 1777, and served as quartermaster. According to the Memorials, "He was made prisoner by the British Col. Norton at White Plains, 3 Feb. 1780. Removed to Lancaster." In Lancaster records, John is listed as a "Hero of the Revolution." He most likely served in Col. Job Cushing's regiment. He died on January 21, 1823. His wife Martha survived him; she died on February 19, 1831.

Capt. Maynard's father, Joseph, was born on November 20, 1725 to Jonathan Maynard and Mehetable (or Mehetabel) Needom (or Needham) of Sudbury. His grandfather Jonathan was born on April 8, 1685 to Zachary and Hannah (Coolidge) Maynard of Sudbury. His great-grandfather Zachary was born in Sudbury on June 7, 1647 to John Sr. and his second wife Mary.

So who owned the house? Well, there were at least two Joseph Maynards living in the area in 1775 (when the house was built), both descendants of John Sr. I suspect more digging will find even more Josephs. It was a popular name in a rather prodigious family.

I. JOSEPH MAYNARD, son of Joseph, b. 17 May 1750. This Joseph was the brother of the more famous Capt. Maynard (and great-great grandson of John Maynard Sr.). He was born on May 17, 1750 to Joseph and Abigail (Jennings) Maynard of Framingham. His father Joseph died on August 3, 1769, and is buried at Church Hill Cemetery in Framingham.

Joseph married Deborah Twitchell, daughter of Joseph and Deborah (Fairbanks) Twitchell of Sherborn, on May 5, 1775. Deborah was the second daughter of that name; their first had died at a very young age. In 1776, he enlisted in Framingham as a private under Col. Abner Perry. In 1777, their daughter Debby was born.

II. JOSEPH MAYNARD, son of Joseph, b. 3 April 1725. This Joseph was the son of Joseph and Miriam (Willard) Maynard of Sudbury. His father was the son of Zachariah and Hannah (Goodrich) Maynard. Zachariah in turn was a son of Zachary and Hannah (Coolidge) Maynard of Sudbury. This Joseph married Abigail Jennings on 29 May 1746."

A Disappointing Act

For hundreds of years, a very large, flat piece of field stone has served the Joseph Maynard House – set at the foot of the house’s original front door and used as a step. We loved this stone immediately and couldn’t wait to put it back to use. But, while work on the house’s foundation is taking place, we needed to move the stone several feet away from the structure -- towards the road. There it's rested for three months.

This week, it was stolen.

We know that the upsetting act had to have been carried in the last two days – as the stone was there earlier this week.

The kicker is … in place of our perfect stone, was left a much smaller piece of stone. (See photo to right. You can see the dead grass, marking where our stone laid … and now in its place, the smaller stone that was left for us to discover)

We not only feel violated that someone trespassed on our land and robbed us of a piece of our property … but we are also saddened that we will never be able to return the stone to it’s historic resting spot at the front door of the Joseph Maynard House.

Why would someone do this? And why would they leave the dwarf stone to mock us? Do they think it’s funny? We’re not laughing.

Everything's Coming Up Roses

On March 31, we posted our 2nd blog entry - which featured a photo of us standing in front of the house, beside a rusty trellis and a whispy stick of what once was a rose bush. Light-heartedly, we even made note of the "rose bush" in the photo's caption.

Here's that photo:

Much to our surprise, earlier this week, that scraggley stunted plant produced several beautiful, magenta roses. Once again, showing life reborn at 100 South Meadow. Take a look:

Moving Along

House gets worse, then better over last three months:

Eric fits new window into guest room wall

New kitchen three months ago ... and again last week:

Nathan Blew, hard at work.