OK guys, looks like the master has to take this one over.....Chatham resolved!
First the summary, then the details:
What we now call the "front" of the building NEVER had 3 wall dormers, only the larger center one.
Now for the painful, boring details:
(1) What we now call the "front" of the building (ocean side or eastern elevation) used to be what appears as the "rear" of the building in earlier days. The main entrance doorway was on the western elevation (away from ocean) with a medium size entry porch.
(2) The eastern elevation (ocean side) did not have the centered front door like it has now, it was a window. There were 2 small "vestibules" sticking out on each side of the window, with a door in each one. Many small outbuildings were all over the "rear" (ocean side) yard at the time.
(3) Sometime in history the building was remodeled to make the ocean side look like the "front" elevation. Many of the outbuildings were removed, the 2 vestibules were removed, and a "front" door was placed where the center window was. A few other windows were also modified somewhat.
(4) Sometime in this era an addition was added to the now "rear" (away from ocean) elevation. The entry porch was filled in as interior space along with a north and south small salt box style addition to completely fill in the back of the building. This version is what the rear of the building looks like on the HL sculpture. You will see the large addition to the rear with a lower sloping roof across the entire back. Another large addition was added later also, but does not apply to this discussion.
This is where it gets interesting...
(5) If you happened upon an old photo or postcard of what USED to appear to be the front of the building (away from ocean) you would notice that it had a large center gable (like the ocean side), but you would also see 2 additional small wall dormers and windows to the left and right of the gable! these 3 gables were actually then on the western side of the building NOT the ocean side! It would have been very hard to understand that if you didn't realize the front became the back, and vica versa, and really compared the aspects of the photos VERY closely.
(6) I very much believe that HL mimicked the sculpture very accurately in all aspects, but when they saw the old postcard with the 3 gables, they mistakenly assumed that this was the ocean side of the building, and the dormers had been removed at one time or another. Since it was more interesting and "historically accurate" they put them back in. (Only my assumption to their thought process, not verified)
Now for the supporting info:
(1) below is a link to a site called "The Cape Cod Lighthouse Homepage" with some old photo views of the light. The first 2 photos are the ocean side (the "new front" of the building), while the 3rd shot is of the "old front" of the building (away from ocean). You can easily see how the confusion could have been made. (The 4th shot is the ocean side again)
(2) There are 3 factors that can help verify which is truely the ocean side and non-ocean side views, if anyone questions my assumptions.
(A) The lighthouse tower locations:
The 2 towers are on the north and south side of the building, but in reality they are also much closer to the ocean side corners of the structure than the "away from ocean" rear corners of the building. This puts them at the southeast and northeast corners of the building. Use this info as a reference when comparing any photos.
(B) The 3 chimneys:
2 of the chimneys are split apart along the main ridge to the north and south ends of the building, but the center chimney in reality is pushed much further away from the ocean towards the "now rear" of the building. It is more "west" than it is "east" from dead center. The HL sculpture has it accurately, and works well for a reference. Use this as a reference too.
(C) The main center gable (dormer):
the center gable is identical on the ocean side and non-ocean side of the building except for one very important factor. The ocean side's (the "now front" side) center gable is flush with the entire building facade, there are no "ins and outs" along this facade. On the non-ocean side of the building (the "now rear" side), the center gable used to be part of a 2 story center "kickout" area of around 6 feet. In other words, the center of this facade stuck forward of the rest of the facade by around 6 feet. Use this as a reference also.
Now, if you use the above 3 factors as references in the photos linked below, along with your HL sculpture for comparison, you will eventually see that it was the wrong side of the building that had the 3 dormers, and were later covered up and deleted when the salt-box style addition was added. The ocean side of the building never had the the extra dormers.
Also as an extra note: The "now front" of the building (the real building as it stands today in the photo above in the thread, not the sculpture) has 2 small awning windows on the second floor of the ocean side. These were never on the original building (according to all photos and postcards) until some later remodeling. I am sure they just wanted some extra light into some of the "attic" rooms, and the local Architect thought that they would look good there, lining up with the windows below. This really adds to the confusion though, because it appears to fortify the assumption that the dormers USED to be there, and someone just removed them and shortened the windows somewhere down the line.
The Cape Cod Lighthouse Homepage (Chatham):
http://www.capecod.net/~gbenoit/b/chathampage.htm
Keep in mind this entire series of assumptions have not been verified by any historian, etc. I just compared a large quantity of photos and postcards and created a "timeline" of what I assumed had occured as an Architect. I toured the inside of the Coast Guard Station and climbed the tower last year and have alot of close up photos that helped too. I have heard a rumor of a "seasoned citizen" local woman whom also swore that there were never any dormers on that side too. I think I am at least close to being right.
It is of course possible that the ocean side had the 3 dormers just like the rear at one time. The photos and postcards go back pretty far though, and I dont know why they would have eliminated them so early in the life of the structure without modifying the rear ones too. Climbing in the attic to see the rafter layout would make it obvious if they were there at one time. Any volunteers? Of course if I am proven to be wrong, then you have permission to chain me up at Execution Rocks for the day while I whimper for forgiveness.
Thank you, thank you...my work here is complete.
Time to rest after the worlds longest and most confusing post.
After this post I will become MUDD#2
-RodW
[This message has been edited by Rod Watson (edited 01-17-2000).]
