During construction of the nearby Arnold’s Mill Reservoir in 1927, another house, which had originally been owned by Jacob Metcalf, was moved and attached to the 1776 house.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

In north Cumberland, most residents live in newer houses in one of the many suburban subdivisions that have sprouted in the town’s former mill and farm villages in the past 30 years.

But Gary R. Grund and Carrie M. Mitzel live in a different kind of house — The Elms, a 1776 Colonial listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For Grund and Mitzel, their house is not just their home.

They believe that by caring for this historic homestead on Abbott Run Valley Road, they are guardians of an important link to the town’s past.

The Elms was built in 1776 for Ebenezer Metcalf and his wife. Metcalf and his son, Jacob, ran an iron foundry near what is now the North Cumberland fire station.

Ebenezer’s grandson, Liberty Metcalf, who later founded the Metcalf-Franklin Farm in Cumberland, was born in the house in 1776.

During construction of the nearby Arnold’s Mill Reservoir in 1927, another house, which had originally been owned by Jacob Metcalf, was moved and attached to the 1776 house.

A carriage house and barn are also connected to the two historic houses, making The Elms a rambling, 5,400-square-foot home. It has 12 rooms and 7 working fireplaces, including a beehive oven and a hearth in the original kitchen in the oldest part of the house.

The house was continually owned by members of the Metcalf family until 1958, when Margaret Metcalf Stearns sold it to Hank Wiley, Mitzel said.

Grund said that at one point, Margaret Metcalf Stearns owned nearly one-sixth of all the land in Cumberland.

She donated and sold off most of the acreage, leaving about 8.5 acres that now are part of The Elms property.

A man-made pond near the house provides pleasant views and has been used for swimming in the summer and skating in the winter.

Mitzel said both their sons, Jonathan and Bill, played hockey, and their Cumberland teams used to practice on the pond. Their daughter, Laura, also grew up in the house.

Before they married, Grund and Mitzel each lived for a time on Providence’s East Side.

Grund, an English professor at Rhode Island College, bought The Elms in late 1991 and moved into it in 1992, before he and Mitzel married.

At the time, Grund needed a home for himself, his son Jonathan and a parent.

“I knew I wanted an historic home,” Grund said. “I teach older literature, so it sort of fits with my personality and character.” That said, he added that “I saw a lot of dumps” during his house hunt. Part of the attraction to The Elms was that it was sound in its essentials — foundation, plumbing, wiring — although it needed cosmetics.

Grund said he and Jonathan went to work painting and wallpapering almost as soon as they moved in.

Mitzel, who publishes an apartment and condominium directory, has also taken a do-it-yourself approach to maintaining the home.

She said she stripped and refinished a staircase herself. “People do not like to work on historic houses unless you pay them an astronomical amount of money,” she said.

But she said living in a historic house is worth every incon- venience.

“It’s like an old pair of shoes when you move in,” she said. “There’s something about an old house. You feel when you move in that you belong there … It’s well worth all the time and energy you put into them. There really is a warmth and depth to an old house that you enjoy.”

“I have friends who have modern homes,” she said. “But I wouldn’t switch.”

cdunn@projo.com