Dan and Pete washing the Pink Parlor floor

On Tuesday, Dan was removing southern yellow pine flooring in a room we’ve dubbed “the Pink Parlor.”  As an earlier layer of flooring was uncovered, he detected beneath the scrim of sand and dust a pattern in the mottled finish.  A little washing revealed a fine stenciling.

Stenciling Detail

Scott had also been working on dismantling the Pink Parlor, and discovered some craftsmanship that has made me re-think a hasty declaration about the best way to field panels

Fielded Wall Panel

The crisp beveled edges of these raised panels are beautiful.  It’s hard to believe that this was the back face, appreciated by the carpenter alone.  Large panels need to have a certain amount of thickness for stability, but their edges must be narrow in order to fit into a groove that runs along the inner edges of the stiles and rails.  At O’Kane, we have discovered a variety of techniques for relieving that edge, each one more impressive than the last.

Wall Panel Detail

When we were first assessing the room, and removing the plaster, many of us thought that the wall beneath the chair rail was finished in plaster, because the wall section was so wide, and smooth.  In our day and age, it is hard to believe that a 24 inch, 17 foot wall section could be composed of a single, clear board, but in this building’s day and age, that was entirely possible.

Scott removing nails from wainscot panel

The wainscot that Scott removed was 24 1/2 inches wide, tightly grained, and completely free of knots and defects.  Lain upon the horses, in the strafing light, the scallops left by the joiner’s plane were obvious.

Wainscot Panels

This is a limited selection of what we’ve revealed in the past week.  For more, see the slideshow below: