In an 1875 Catskill Mountain home—especially one tied to a chair factory with access to a train station 15 miles away—the kitchen would likely not have had decorative tile as we think of it today. Instead, the materials would reflect:

1. Practicality, Locality & Availability

This was a rural, working-class, utilitarian environment—likely built by or for craftspeople. So the materials would have been:

• Locally sourced

• Durable

• Affordable or handmade

2. Original Kitchen Flooring/Surfaces

Here’s what you might expect instead of tile:

➤ Floors

• Wide-plank wood floors, likely pine or chestnut—soft, worn, unfinished or oiled, not varnished

• Sometimes brick or stone pavers directly over dirt or a crawlspace in colder work zones or hearth areas

• In rare factory-home hybrids, red clay brick floors (set in dirt or sand) might appear in work or prep spaces for durability

➤ Walls/Backsplash (if any)

• No tile—walls would be:

  • Whitewashed wood

  • Lath and plaster, sometimes with lime wash

  • Unpainted or oiled wood boards, particularly behind hearths

• In wealthier or semi-industrial homes: metal sheeting or tin splash guards behind stoves

• Occasionally, if clay tile was used (rare), it would’ve been red terracotta hex, usually European-imported and very expensive

➤ Hearth Surround

• Rough fieldstone or river rock laid in lime mortar

• Wood mantels and cooking cranes—iron pots suspended in the fire

Design Translation for Today

If you want to keep the spirit of 1865 Catskills + rustic industrial workshop, modern tiles you could use inspired by that era might include:

• Reclaimed brick tile or brick veneer for floors

• Tumbled limestone or sandstone pavers

• Terracotta tile with soot-washed or aged finish

• Unglazed quarry tile

• For wall: handmade zellige or matte square tile in warm earthy tones to mimic plaster or limewash