The Demory House, c. 1780
The Demory House lies near the Shenandoah Valley in northwestern Virginia and was probably built by a migrant from Pennsylvania according to a German design used by both German and Scots-Irish settlers. The house is small but sturdy. It measures 20 feet by 14 feet deep and has one and a half stories. The two first-floor rooms, a kitchen and a parlor, are separated by an 18 × 18–inch square chimney set in the center of the house, as well as the stairs leading up to the sleeping chamber. Clay and small stones fill the gaps in the exterior walls, which consist of timber planking about 12 inches tall and 6 to 8 inches wide. © 2003 Copyright and All Rights Reserved by Christopher C. Fennell.