Ned,

        The Johannes Luyster House in Middletown, NJ (c. 1724) also had paired
benches on the front stoop of the type you describe.  The Luysters were
Dutch and came to New Jersey via Long Island.

Hope this helps,

Rich Veit

Monmouth University

Katerina Koltsida wrote:
>
> Dear Edward,
> Benches inside or outside the house are a commonplace in rural ancient and
> modern Egyptian domestic architecture. I do not think that this would help
> though because the weather conditions are much different there.
> Nevertheless, I sent you some bibliography about the use of space in houses,
> where you will possibly find references to your subject:
>
> J. Carsten and S. Hugh-Jones (eds.), About the House. Lévi-Strauss and
> Beyond. Cambridge 1995.
> S. Kent (ed.), Domestic Architecture and the Use of Space. An
> Interdisciplinary Cross-cultural Study.Cambridge 1990.
> Grøn O., E. Engelstad and I. Lindblom (ed.), Social Space, Human Behaviour
> in Dwellings and Settlements, Odense 1991.
> Bourdier J-P. and N. Alsayyad (eds.), Dwellings, Settlement and Tradition.
> Cross-Cultural Perspectives, London 1989.
> M. Parker Pearson and C. Richards (eds.), Architecture and Order. Approaches
> to Social Space, London 1994.
>
> Regards,
> Katerina
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Edward F. Heite" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2000 5:30 PM
> Subject: household activity areas
>
> > Here in central Delaware, at least from the eighteenth through early
> > twentieth centuries, vernacular houses featured paired attached benches
> > flanking the doorways. These benches generally defined the stoop. In town,
> > and on smaller houses, they were attached to the fronts. On very elegant
> > houses, they were located against the back door.
> >
> > These benches were considered an essential element of any house. Brick
> > houses generally had sockets for the benches built into the brickwork,
> > indicating that the benches were integral to the house. The earliest dated
> > Delaware example is 1728, and the benches on my own front stoop are 1925
> > more or less. Generally they projected about four to six feet from the
> front
> > wall of the house, which means that four people could sit comfortably on
> the
> > stoop. The benches must have been important, because they were maintained
> > and replaced. My neighbor just rebuilt his front porch (and installed new
> > benches), finding evidence for two earlier sets of benches let into the
> > front wall.
> >
> > So benches by the front doorway were important in Delaware folk
> > architecture, but there is no folklore, of which I am aware, relating to
> > them. They just were.
> >
> > In Iceland, on the other hand, benches by the front doors of houses were
> > major household activity areas. Whenever the weather was hospitable,
> > Icelanders would sit on their benches and do handwork. Nineteenth-century
> > travel accounts and engravings illustrate the benches by doorways
> frequently
> > as activity areas.
> >
> > So my question is in three parts:
> >
> > 1. What other areas of the world, besides Delaware and Iceland, have a
> > tradition of benches by the doorways?
> >
> > 2. Has anyone archaeologically identified any activity areas associated
> with
> > front doors that might suggest household activities moved outdoors in fine
> > weather?
> >
> > 3. Is there any literature on the subject?
> >
> >                 ____
> >              __(____)_  Heite Consulting
> >             /Baby the|_ Archaeologists and
> >      _===__/1969 Land|| Historians
> >     |___ Rover  ___  || [log in to unmask]
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> >                         Ned Heite RPA, Camden, DE