As in many substantial homes of the period, the kitchen was in a separate building from the family's living area. The present building is a reconstruction since the original burned, but has been restored to emulate the period when James Polk lived in the house. The two rooms were used for food preparation and also for spinning, weaving and other homemaking tasks. The rooms share a single chimney, with separate fireplaces built into the common wall. One, in the east room, has roasting hooks, while the smaller fireplace in the west room was evidently more for heat than cooking. The red brick kitchen building is separated from the back of the main house by a bricked courtyard, and overlooks part of the extensive gardens belonging to the property. The house as it appears today does not feature any servants' or slaves' quarters. As the elder Polk's were pioneers, they may not have had slaves, but I haven't researched this.
