The downstairs room was used for an office as well as a guest bedroom. After Heman suffered a stroke in 1873, he used the downstairs room as his bedroom.

 Upstairs there were four bedrooms. The girls room, the parents room and Frank’s room were rooms where the family members could relax after a long day on the farm. The fourth bedroom was for the teacher, Miss Mary Lake. Heman and Jane valued the education of their children and donated land for a schoolhouse to be built. They also boarded the teacher full time so that she was available for her students.

By 1873 the Gibbs family had a large market garden and needed lots of extra help. They decided to add a hired men’s room, called the pen, for the 6-10 men they boarded during the growing season.

 They also added a summer kitchen where Jane and her daughters would cook for the hired men and the rest of the Gibbs family. The kitchen was designed with lots of windows and doors to provide cross ventilation to combat the heat from the wood burning stove.