Renovation and modernizing of an old cobblestone house on St. Paul Boulevard, under direction of the Better Homes Department of the Democrat and Chronicle, has brought to light some of the possibilities of such houses for continued service. There are many houses of similar construction in the lakeside communities.
When the cobblestone era was at its height, construction of farm dwellings from the materials offered by beaches and sandbanks was developed to a fine art. Members of pioneer families tell of the immense labor involved in selecting just the right sort of rounded, lake-washed cobbles from the beds where waves and rocked and polished the stones for untold centuries.
The cobbles were drawn in wagons to the site selected for the house, and then came the work of sizing them for the various courses. As may be seen by inspection of some of the dwellings, every stone was set in the cement with as great care as if the wall were a work of art, as indeed it was when finished.
Cobblestone houses were well planned and were built to last. Time was of little consequence to the builders, so that there was no skimping of effort to produced a finished job. Materials were cheap, except for the labor of gathering and sorting them. The preservation of such dwellings and their adaptation to modern needs is well worth while, for they are one of the native architectural features of the lake counties. Courtesy Richard Palmer email.