Hearth Cooking

An open hearth provided the household staff with a more traditional and familiar way of heating water and cooking. Household implements for collecting ashes and toasting bread were placed next to the hearth. This room was also outfitted with a set-kettle, a part of the Rumford cooking system.

This copper basin was set into the masonry block, complete with a firebox and ash pit to heat water for laundry and washing. A drain at the bottom of the basin was connected to a wooden trough that deposited the water outside.