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I believe that “ widow’s walks” decks on the highest level of the house were first built in coastal communities so wife’s can go up there and watch if the ship of her merchant, sailor, fisherman husband is on its way back home.
It often happened in those times, that the husbands were lost at sea.
The women continue coming up on the deck, pacing and looking out to the sea in the hopes of their husbands safe return... but in fact quite often women were widows already...hence the name” widows’s walk”
Quite so. That is what I was told as a child, almost word for word. Points coming up. However, that idea and name are almost certainly built around a myth as well.
The concept of widows pacing them is almost certainly a romanticization. The idea of mounting to the roof of a home to gaze seaward was undoubtedly far more enticing to an able-bodied seaman or merchant trader intent on being informed than to a widow worthy of her own E.A. Poe short story or bemoaning her lost Heathcliff.
The greater point is that myth is part of culture, and realities get embellished. That is human nature. Folks who study history run into glorifications and romantic or religious nonsense regularly. The fame of the Liberty Bell doesn't hold up to even casual scrutiny, but traces to an error-filled popular poem. That inflation doesn't prevent it from being a national icon.
Almost entirely false. Walkways around the roof on those tall houses were to enable fighting fires. Many are not accessible except through narrow ladders, which no self-respecting widow would climb.
https://cogpunksteamscribe.files.wor...2581.jpg?w=500
Are you saying that people with buckets of water/ sand were climbing that narrow ladder you describing to fight roof fire?
You theory is as good or as bad as mine. Like mine better!��, like HarryChickPea would say!��
One can clearly see the door access to this widows walk. Don’t think narrow steep stairway would lead here. I visited many houses with the widows walks- it is pretty waterviews from there; good for fireworks as well!
This is the similar to the ones I was talking about.
The concept of widows pacing them is almost certainly a romanticization.
For one thing, most ports had spotters and tidewaiters who announced ships on the horizon with the experience and reliability of the National Weather Service, many hours before they made harbor. San Francisco, of course, had an elaborate telegraph system that could be seen all over the city.
Standing on one's roof to second-guess these institutions would have been about as useful as doing it today to see what the weather is going to be.
My house was built in 2014. I have 2 panel doors and white trim - not Colonial style - because it was what I chose. I could have had the trim stained but I prefer the look of white.
I don't remember if stained doors were an option or not, because I wouldn't have chosen anything but white and wouldn't have paid much attention.
"Laughed so hard I lost my breath. You really believe that nonsense?"
I learned that those doors were called cross and bible doors about 70 years ago. That is what they were called in the 1700s and they were a status symbol. Our forefathers named them and did not consider it nonsense.
I learned that those doors were called cross and bible doors about 70 years ago. That is what they were called in the 1700s and they were a status symbol. Our forefathers named them and did not consider it nonsense.
Quietude imagines; "Almost entirely false. Walkways around the roof on those tall houses were to enable fighting fires. Many are not accessible except through narrow ladders, which no self-respecting widow would climb."
I became a volunteer fireman in 1957. No fireman is going up a narrow staircase or ladder inside a burning building. Where there is fie, there is smoke and when those houses were built there was no such thing as a Scott air pack.
As for six-panel doors, this discussion has provoked a strong urge to go around hanging them upside down from now on.
Don't laugh. I wanted our newly built house to have old features and took all those 4 panel doors and did hang them upside down. They looked much more 'graceful' ( no pun intended) that way.
I use white semi-gloss for doors and trim because it reflects light. Stain absorbs light and makes the room feel smaller. Slab hollow core doors look cheap and low quality.
I just had a painter paint my Vermont townhouse condo. The trim and doors are all now white semi-gloss. It’s an inside unit so it’s dark. I’m also going much lighter with the carpet to reflect more light.
There are hundreds of houses within a few miles of me with widow’s walks. Prior to the Civil War, it was the largest whaling port in the world with affluent captains and merchants. A widow’s walk was a sign of affluence so any larger house had one even if the owner had nothing to do with the sea.
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