Just more than 50 years ago, Walt Kabis embarked on a seemingly never-ending endeavor.
He purchased his home on Odessa’s Main Street with the intention of doing some repairs to the structure.
But he soon found out he would do much more work than he expected on the house, which dates back to the 1600s.
“Every time I got started on something, it became not only a bigger job, but it exposed the need for other jobs that had to be taken care of first,” Kabis said.
He said the house was ready to fall apart when he moved in. Many of the windows were broken, a new well was needed and many other repairs had to be done.
The product of his many years of work will be on display as he opens the doors of the Corbit-Kabis House for the Women’s Club of Odessa’s 2008 Christmas in Odessa tours on Saturday, Dec. 6.
Black and white tile flooring leads visitors through the hall and into a living room, parlor, library and dining room. The second and third floors have four bedrooms each.
But the history of the house can be seen in the cozy room at the back of the house.
The original structure consisted of one room on the first floor and one room on the second.
“This part of the house is made without nails,” Kabis said. “They used mortise and tenon joints with a wooden pin. Nails were either unknown or too expensive because they had to be handmade.”
The exterior walls of that room are all made of solid brick and the stairs leading to the second-floor room are worn from hundreds of years of use.
Kabis said records weren’t kept when the house was built, and after the town hall began to keep records of construction, the building where they were kept burnt down.
Since he moved into the house, he’s found various aspects of the home to tell him just how old it is.
One clue is that the front door of the original structure faced east.
“That’s another thing that helps date it,” Kabis said. “If that was the front door, and it is because of the stone quarried sill, then it was facing the mode of transportation, which was the creek. That suggests there was no cart road or anything at the time.”
While installing a damper in the room’s fireplace, he discovered an opening for an outdoor beehive oven.
“They would build the fire from the inside, get it real hot, scoop the ashes to one side and do the cooking and baking in there,” Kabis said. “I was working on that when I thought, ‘If that was an oven opening, maybe there’s more to be discovered.’ ”
His search to unlock his home’s many mysteries brought him to take a hammer to the plaster wall above the closet in the original first-floor room.
“I knew there had to be a space in there,” Kabis said. “I remember my wife Kathleen stood there and I said, ‘Honey, I can’t stand it. I’m going to put a hammer to the perfect wall and look inside this thing.’ When I did I was quite excited and immediately had to rip it out.”
He discovered an opening above the closet and inside was the end of a wood beam on the ceiling.
“That meant they had to be in the rest of the house,” Kabis said. “This ceiling was covered. The first thing I could do was tear out this good ceiling. I couldn’t stand it if I had good beams.”
Kabis said that opening above the closet also showed him the mortise and tenon joint, a pin joint and the home’s original wall color, which was painted in milk paint.
Now his walls are a dark shade of red to match the milk paint.
“I was always making discoveries,” Kabis said, “but that was the greatest discovery because that told me a lot about this room.”
He said as generations developed, the previous owners expanded the house to make room for growing families.
Kabis said the majority of the additions were constructed prior to the Civil War.
“We know that because I found a date painted on one of the beams,” he said.
Of all the rooms in the vast home, Kabis spends most of his time in the original first-floor living area.
“This is really the most interesting room,” he said. “This was called the keeping room in the language of the period. They gathered here. They ate here. They cooked here.”
Sometime in the home’s long history, a tiny kitchen was added. When Kabis moved in, he extended it.
But he’s tried his hand at hearth cooking in the keeping room’s fireplace.
“Just for fun I cooked beef stew,” Kabis said.
He said he learned from a Smyrna-Times clipping that the home, when it was in the Corbit family, was the first in the area, and possibly the state, to have an indoor toilet.
“They said it was luxurious and spacious,” Kabis said.
He said his family enjoys the house every year when they hold their family reunions there.
Those who tour it on Dec. 6 can see the history he has preserved, which is accented by his Bartley classic furniture reproductions situated through the home.
Tour information
The Christmas in Odessa Tours will feature 25 historic houses and public buildings in and around Odessa. The homes will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12, and free for children younger than 12 if purchased the day of the tour. Tickets can be purchased at the Old Academy at Fourth and Main streets in Odessa.
Ticket sales on Dec. 6 begin at 9:30 a.m.
Advance tickets are $15 and may be purchased at D.W. Hatton’s, 19 W. Main St., Middletown, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 4 and Friday, Dec. 5.
Fresh loose greens, and wreaths and roping, will be for sale on Friday, Dec. 5, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Odessa Fire Hall. The selection will include Angolia leaves, Scotch Broom and Boxwoods.
The greens will also be on sale Saturday, Dec. 6.
The Christmas Craft Show and Fresh Greens sale begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Odessa Fire Hall, 304 Main St.
The Antique Show and Sale opens at 9:30 a.m. at Old Saint Paul’s Church at 506 High St.
Horse-drawn carriage rides will be held on Main Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tea at Old Saint Paul’s Church will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
At 12:30 p.m., a Christmas concert featuring the First State Bellringers directed by Bruce Cataldi will be held at Old Saint Paul’s Church.
At 2 p.m., a concert by vocalist Jack Wampler will be held at the church.
The Newark Fife and Drum Corp directed by George Kussel will perform throughout the town until 4 p.m.
At 2:30 p.m., Jeanne Hatton will play the organ at Old Saint Paul’s Church.
Christmas carols will be sung a cappella by the Vocal Exchange throughout the tour.
Refreshments will be available at the Odessa Fire Hall.
A Chicken Dinner will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. at Saint Paul’s Church. The dinner is an annual fundraising event that emphasizes good value and great fellowship. Funds from annual event support the mission and ministry of St. Paul’s as well as provides an opportunity for friends to meet after a long day touring the historic homes of Odessa.
Worship and special event schedules for the Advent and Christmas season will also be available.
Tickets for the dinner are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 12 and younger. For more information, call the church office at 378-2420 or go to www.stpaulsodessa.org.
For more information on Christmas in Odessa, go to http://christmasinodessa.com.
Proceeds from Christmas in Odessa go to the Women’s Club’s scholarship fund as well as to other community groups and projects.
Odessa, Del. —
