House & Furnishings

Seventeenth-century plantation houses in the Chesapeake area were small, post-in-the- ground wooden structures of one or two rooms, usually with lofts above. They were covered with clapboard on the walls and roofs and their chief advantage was that they could be built cheaply and quickly. Even well-to-do people lived in such houses, although they might have windows with glass instead of wooden shutters, brick chimneys instead of chimneys made of wattle and daub (mud and sticks), and wooden floors instead of well-packed dirt. A successful man might add a room after a while, but he was just as likely to build a second house if he wanted more space. Seventeenth-century planters did not usually have outbuildings for cooking, dairying, smoking meat, or for privies, such as began to appear later.

A spoon and knife were the usual eating utensils as forks were very rare until the 18th century. Most people ate from a communal dish made of wood or pewter, often with their fingers. They shared communal cups and tankards. Tables for eating or for use in food preparation were not in every household-people probably used chests and counters instead. To have many chairs was a sign of social status. Most households had none, using benches, stools, chests, or small casks for sitting.