Fireplaces

Roseland Cottage was a summer home, used mainly in June, July, and August by the Bowen family for many years. Architect Joseph Collins Wells placed a working fireplace in each of the rooms of the house used by the family except the conservatory and the conservatory chamber. If needed, a wood fire, tended by a servant, could take the chill off a room. All eight fireplaces had marble surrounds and mantels. In the 1880s, hand-painted tiles were inset around the fireboxes of both parlors and the dining room. When the Bowen children grew older, they began to spend time at Roseland Cottage in the fall. Until a convection heating system was installed in the 1880s, the fireplaces were the only way to heat the large, high-ceilinged rooms.