Everel S. Smith House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Everel S. Smith House
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Everel S. Smith House, Westville, Indiana
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 Location in Indiana
Location in the United States
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| Location | 56 W. Jefferson St., Westville, Indiana |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1879 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 90001794 |
| Added to NRHP | December 12, 1990 |
The Everel S. Smith House is a historic home in Westville, Indiana. It sits on the corner of West Jefferson Street and Clyborn Avenue. Tall maple and tulip trees surround the house. On the west side, there's a private garden with a patio, enclosed by a tall cypress fence.
This two-story house is made of red brick with ivory-colored wood trim. It faces south. It's built in the beautiful Italianate style, and has a smaller, one-story section at the back. The main part of the house has a special roof called a hip roof. On top, there's a 'widow's walk' with a fancy metal fence. A small gable sticks out from the front of the house. It has a stone block with the year 1879 carved into it. Below the stone, there's a black metal eagle.
Contents
Outside the House
The house stands on strong brick foundations and walls. A large, open porch welcomes visitors at the front. The porch floor rests on brick supports. It has concrete steps and metal railings. The porch roof is flat and held up by six square wooden columns. Fancy carved wood supports hold up the roof's edge. Wooden lattice work fills the spaces under the porch.
Main Entrance and Windows
The main front door is in a section that sticks out from the house. This section goes all the way up to form the gable above the second floor. The entrance has solid wooden double doors. It has a stone step and a window above the doors. This window is topped with a curved stone arch.
All the windows have stone sills and stone tops. Most windows have wooden storm windows. These windows have a curved top that fits into the brickwork. The second floor looks much like the first floor. However, it has two windows side by side in the middle.
Sides of the House
The east side of the house has many windows. Both the east and west sides have one-story, semi-round sections called bays. These bays are about a quarter of the way from the front. Each bay has a flat roof with decorative brackets. Paired windows are next to the bay. On the second story, there are side-by-side windows above the bay. A single window is above the paired windows.
The west side of the main house looks like the east side. But it has only one window on the first floor, closer to the back. The main house has a wide wooden trim under the roof. The roof also has a wooden soffit and decorative eaves. There is one brick chimney. It is located in the middle of the outside north wall of the main house.
Inside the House
The front door opens into a small entry area. This area has angled walls with doors. These rooms have a wall dividing them from north to south. This wall has a large, arched doorway with three doors. Two of these doors are hinged together. This allows the doorway to open very wide.
Main Rooms
Behind the front rooms are a library or den on the west side. A dining room is on the east side. On the left side of the main opening, you'll find the start of a staircase. This staircase is open on the dining room side. It goes up to a landing on the second floor.
The stairs are made of carved wood. They have a rectangular newel post, which is the main post at the bottom. The staircase also has turned balusters and a molded wooden handrail.
The north side of the dining room has three doorways. Cafe doors lead to the kitchen on the west. The middle door goes to a bathroom. The door on the east side leads to the sun porch. In the library or den, there is a doorway to the kitchen at the east end.
Most of the wood inside is painted. It looks like dark mahogany or light oak. The doors have white porcelain doorknobs. There is no fireplace in the house. All windows, including those in the bays, have wooden panels below them. The ceilings on both floors of the main house are ten feet high.
Construction and Finishes
The outside walls of the main house and the back section are plaster over brick. The inside walls and ceilings are plaster over wood. The walls are painted or covered with wallpaper. The floors and stairs are carpeted.
Back Wing and Other Areas
The back section of the house has a kitchen with a lower ceiling. It also has a full bathroom. A hallway north of the bathroom leads to an outside door to the sun porch. From there, another doorway leads to a laundry room. The laundry room has a trapdoor. This trapdoor opens to stairs that go up to a large attic.
In the northwest corner of the kitchen, three steps lead down to a landing. This landing is next to double doors that open to the garden and patio. There is also a sewing or all-purpose room. This room is built at ground level. It has a nine-foot ceiling with fake beams. It has an outside entrance on the west. A door in the north wall leads to the garage.
Changes Over Time
The Everel S. Smith House has changed a bit since it was built. It originally had three chimneys, but two of them were removed. Rain gutters were built into the roof edges. These gutters sent water to a cistern under the kitchen. A cistern is a tank for storing rainwater.
The house also used to have an entrance to a carriage storage room. This was on the north end, on the west side of the back section. The roofs were once covered with wood shake shingles. Inside, the staircase to the second floor was closed off with a door at the bottom. There was also a door between the west parlor and the dining room.
