Did You Know: The Pink House Had an Open Front Porch!

Did you know that the Pink House once had an open porch in the front? We didn't, until one day, out of the blue, PH fan Susan Polinsky posted this photo of the house on our Facebook page. It was taken by her mother, Susan said. On the back it was dated December 1950!   Wow! Take a look!

Today the primary entrance is the blue door to the right of the porch, on the front west side. Seeing this photo from 1950 explains a lot. Because when you step inside via the blue door, you walk a few paces to get to an inner door frame, which then puts you smack dab at the center of everything. The living room with it's fireplace and built in bookshelves spread out to your left, a wooden staircase leading to the second floor bedrooms is to your right, and the way to the kitchen/dining area is straight ahead. In the days when the porch was open, that same central frame was the front door.  

So when did it get filled in? When we were were working to get the house recognized as significant on the state level through the Mass Historic Commission, they asked us to find out.  Our PH history sleuths Sandy Tilton and Alison Odle didn't turn up anything. They looked for a building permit, and we asked some of the folks who had lived near it decades ago if they knew and we were coming up with nothing. But when we wrote to one of the last owners to live there, the answer came in a few sentences!  Early in the 1960's, over 50 years ago, the porch was filled in by the oldest son and his father, along with help from the neighbor across the street who owned the boat house that is just West of Bob Lobster. It was to serve as his bedroom which it did till he left for college.  

You can't see it from these pictures, but if you've stood in front of the house, you can see the porch wraps around and spans most of the east side of the house. The outer walls are covered with materials different than the shingles on the rest of the house. 

Pretty cool! If you want to read more about the history of the house and the people who have lived there, please visit our PH History Page. We've just stumbled upon another interesting tie bit that we'll be writing about soon, so stay tuned to this page!

We always are searching for photos or paintings of The Pink House from the past, inside our out. If you have any, please send them to us at [email protected]!