By Bea Peterson
Not all old buildings are destroyed. Some are fortunate enough to be taken down, moved and restored. That is the case of one building in Hoosick, for sure. In 1984 the William Briggs Tavern, located on the east side of Route 22 in Hoosick, was spotted by Don Carpentier. At that time Carpentier was slowly recreating a village of historic buildings on the east field of his father’s farm in East Nassau, a project he started when he was 14. The enormous building was weathered and devoid of paint. The roof was caving in. According to Phil Dunning of Ottawa Canada who helped dismantle the 1792 structure, at one time pigs had been housed in the bar area.
Carpentier saw more than that. He saw what it had been and what it could be again. Friends say he was taken by the magnificent second floor windows and the curved ceiling in the upstairs ballroom. He purchased the decrepit building for $500. It took all summer to dismantle, board by carefully numbered board. “One of my jobs,” recalled Dunning, “was to find pieces of plaster from above the wainscoting in every room to determine the original color of that room.” According to historical information, the Inn flourished and in 1803 Briggs added a wing to the south end of the building creating a taproom and two private rooms on the first floor and a 20×30′ ballroom and Masonic Hall on the second floor.
The building today is breathtaking. It’s enough to bring tears to one’s eyes. The long sturdy outside is an elegant rich dark red with white trim. It has flat stone steps at the two entrances. Stepping inside is stepping into history. Each room is furnished as it would have been when the Tavern was in use, and the walls are the colors they would have been at the time, with paints as they were made in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The floors are well used wide plank boards.
On Saturday, September 23, at the annual Founders Day one-day open house held at the now well-established and renowned Eastfield Village, the kitchen fire burned warmly and kitchen staff in period garb prepared lunch for visitors from New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts and many other places.
Standing behind the bar Dunning showed visitors how sliding bars were lowered to lock off the bar when the innkeeper was elsewhere. (Hence the reason for calling that location a “bar.”)
The two rooms next to the bar and large dining room, Dunning said, were often used by traveling salesmen to display their wares. They put a sign outside the Inn describing their products, slept in the room at night and sold their stuff from the room in the day. On the first floor, besides these rooms and the kitchen, dining room and large entry hall, is the elaborate (for the time) bedroom of the Inn’s owner. Upstairs is the ballroom and several bedrooms where guests could purchase a portion of a bed for the night.There are several beds in each room, along with a wash basin. Candles could be purchased for an additional cost.
According to folks in the know, the 5,000 piece dismantled building sat under tarps for at least a year before the framework was put up as it had been in 1893 – by hand, with ropes and pulleys and lots of people power.
Work has continued on the Inn for years. It’s still not completely restored. Work is underway on the back porch. On the wall of the building adjoined by the porch is a small section that is uncovered so visitors can see the actual construction techniques used in the rebuilding.
For an opportunity to visit Eastfield Village, watch for information on Founders Day 2018 next September.