Stone Houses

We often have people remark about the stone houses that grace our Vermont Villages and countryside.  Read on to learn a bit more about the stone houses in our area.

The stone used in creating the houses was quarried locally.  Transporting stone any great distance in the early 1800’s would have been a logistical nightmare.  The houses you see have very thick walls.  This is not because the house walls are solid stone, but rather they have a post and beam frame with a stone veneer.  This is called “Snecked Ashlar Construction”.  The veneer stones are split the long way.  They may be 20 inches tall, but they are only about 4 inches thick. 

The stone is often called ‘glimmerstone’ because of the shimmery flecks in the stone.  This stone is actually called Gneiss (pronounced ‘nice’), and it is a reformation of preexisting rock that contains minerals to give it the sparkle.

Most of the stone houses were constructed between the 1840’s and the 1880’s.  The style is usually a cape (earlier years) to a Greek Revival (later years).  There are several examples in ‘Stone Village’ on Route 103 in Chester, or Main Street in Cavendish.  There are stone houses located on Trebo Road in Chester, or Center Road in Cavendish. 

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