Ron Curiso lived in the Nathan House for 10 years, we visited with him at the Wiggin Library. He told us he stabled 18 horses, said people were coming and going all the time. It was one of the loveliest places in Stratham. When he moved from there sold the land separately, 24 acres with a stipulation that only one house could be built on it. Prior to Ron Curiso moving into the house three old women lived there. These old women had over 20 dogs and perhaps as many cats; they nearly destroyed the house. Ron told us about having to cut a tree in the front yard. It was an Elm tree, one of the largest Elm trees in the state, was over 13' in circumference. It became deseased and in 1992 was cut down. Ron also told us about a tunnel under the garage that went from the house to the barn which was used for Indian protection, and allowed the residents to tend the animals without being in the open. Said the tunnel may have collapsed.
A fire in the town destroyed some records for the period of the 1700's so is difficult to do much tracing on the house and it's inhabitants.
Eric Johnson lived in the house, don't have the dates, but he was the one to renovate the house. He currently lives in New Castle. He built the ell on the house in the 1960's which has a new kitchen built in 1996. Peter and Lisa Henry are doing the restoration of the house back to the period of the late 1700's. Ron Curiso said he found a trunk in the attic but left it there because the Humane Society didn't want it, had lots of papers marked Nathaniel Wiggin on them. But they refused the trunk and its contents because it had rat poisoning on it. More than likely this is what preserved the papers. Unfortunately, the trunk will probably stay with the house. Henry's want it there saying it lends authenticity and goes with that period of the house.
Lisa Henry provided a detailed tour of the inside of the house and the barn. The house is considered a Stick House--current style of homes. There are Indian shutters in the house, however these have been painted over and not able to slide out. The shutters recess into the window sills and slide out from inside the house, enclosing the windows against Indian attacks. Fortunately the Indians never attacked in the town of Stratham. It is believed to be the only town in the area without Indian Massacres. Records show that Gov/Capt Thomas had an amiable relationship with these Indians which may account for this. In fact, an Indian Village was located near the old homestead at Sandy Point.
The tour of the house was great. There are seven fireplaces. The first front room had an open- beamed ceiling. Recessed above the fireplace was an Herb drying closet. Moving into the next room small was an open stairwell. All the rooms had wallpaper. The wallpaper in the hallway was of the 1920's, so they have taken it all off. The original finish to the walls was horse hair plaster, the horse hair placed in the plaster helped bind the plaster. High on the wall above the open staircase was a window into the birthing room. This small opening allowed the pregnant woman to greet her visitors and yet not be seen. It was improper for a pregnant women to be seen by anyone except her immediate family. Next to one oven was the borning (labor/birthing) room which provided the needed warmth.
Beside one fireplace, in another room, had storage closets with graduated size shelves. Closets may have been added during the renovation period. This room also had an open beam ceiling.
In still another room the fireplace had wainscoating all across the front of the fireplace. A huge wood panel covered the area beside the fireplace. This huge panelling was removed and made into a kitchen table. The fireplace was all bricked up with a wood stove added to it. The stove and brick were removed to reveal the fireplace. This room also had the open beamed ceiling. One wall was papered because of the difficulty of removing the wall paper. The fireplace perhaps was used for cooking.
Another room, this one currently used by the family as their living room may have been the original kitchen, also with a fireplace. This one was called the Beehive Oven because of its dome shape for keeping food warm. The carpeting and paint has been striped off all floors revealing the original plank floors with boards 23 1/2" wide.
The flooring had wide board paneling all 23 1/2" or less. If the boards were wider--24" boards, these had to be sent back to England for ship building. The Chimneys had steel reinforcement for the bridge work and sythe blades were used for this.
The new add-on kitchen had wood floors. These 23 1/2" boards were removed from the attic and used for the kitchen floor.
The upstairs contained a fireplace in two rooms, rooms for the Henry's small daughter and young son. The mater bedroom had a fireplace. Off this room they found a hallow wall, said may contain another room and fireplace but have not explored it. The attic was one large room.
The Henry's purchased the house and 2.6 acres of land. Not enough land to raise several horses even though the barn is still equipped to do so. Approx in 1992 the carriage house, collapsed beyond repair, was torn down.
The barn is a masterpiece in itself. The door is not original, new one is by far a smaller one. The rest of the building is original... The barn is usually built first to have a place for the animals. Usually a barn raising would take place for the new land owners, and take only a few days to put up. Wooden pegs were used in play of nails. The inside of the barn is huge, much larger than it looks to be from the outside. A few farm implements are still in the barn, found one of the sythes still there. The entire barn would be filled with hay. A series of horse stalls was added to the barn sometime since 1793. We have a photo from a book of the house and barn for that time period and the stalls addition was not on it. The old well was beside the barn, considered to be very deep, no longer in use. Years after the original barn was built
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