Veteran Preservationists Cheryl and John Crozier like the atmospheric creaking of old houses. Their 18th century home on 8 acres in Colebrookdale Township is the second old farmhouse they restored. Before tackling their latest old-house rescue in 2012, they tried something different, building a new post-and-beam house in the Poconos.

“We only lived there a year,” John said. “We missed squeaky floors.”

Cheryl, a registered nurse and administrator for Penn State Health St. Joseph, grew up in an old farmhouse in Lower Alsace Township. John, a certified arborist and retired owner of 4 Seasons Landscaping, was reared in rural Exeter Township. Married 40 years, the beekeepers and breeders of German wirehaired pointers relish country living and enjoy hunting with their energetic pack, founded by the dam, Briska, 17, and sire, Cai, 15.

“We were longing for a Berks County farm,” John said. “We looked at other houses. Everything else was too modernized. With this house, the previous owners were cover-uppers, not ripperouters.”

Their research suggests the oldest section of the house was built about 1767, when Joseph Muthart, or Muthard, settled the farmstead. A stone wing was added in about 1820; and a summer kitchen about 1830.

“This began as a one-and-a-half-story, post-and-plank house,” John explained. “It was expanded to two stories with a log addition.”

The post-and-plank method, a traditional building technique using timber framing with heavy horizontal planks, can be found throughout Europe and was brought to America by colonists.

The only other known example in Berks County, near Bernville, was moved here from Dauphin County in the 1990s. Coincidentally, the Croziers’ home might have been moved here, too, but almost 250 years ago.

Since the post-and-plank method was widely discontinued in the region by the time the Muthard homestead was settled, some architectural historians theorize that the Muthards disassembled the home and moved it here. Sets of Roman numerals carved into the corners of the planks suggest the pieces were numbered for reassembly or were pre-fitted off-site.

Working with a team of professionals for three years, the Croziers stripped away evidence of modernity, removing any post-1830 materials and carefully hiding necessities such as plumbing and electricity.

“We wanted a modern kitchen, laundry room and baths,” John said.

They uncovered architectural clues to the original appearance of stairwells, windows and other features, finding hidden doors behind plastered walls. Remarkably, they discovered the original Dutch door stashed in the summer kitchen loft. Such divided doors were designed so the tops could be opened, allowing light and air in, while the bottoms stayed shut, keeping small children in and barnyard animals out.

“To have the original front door is unusual,” Cheryl said. “The windows are unusual, too. There was evidence of casement windows, and we had them remade.”

The oldest section of the house has a traditional Germanic three-room plan with a central fireplace and evidence of a jamb stove.

“The cooking fireplace beam is almost medieval,” John said. “The header measures 21 by 20 inches.”

The walk-in fireplace appears larger than the typical 18th century residential kitchen fireplace, indicating cooking on a commercial scale and suggesting the house might have doubled as an inn. This theory is supported by a series of faded tally marks, believed to be the tavern keeper’s tab, discovered on the cellar door beside the hearth. Corroborating evidence was found in the Pennsylvania census of 1800, where Joseph Muthard is listed as an innkeeper.

One of the Croziers’ strangest discoveries was an early 19th century shoe sealed behind an attic wall. Concealed shoes have been discovered in the fabric of buildings in European countries and their colonies, with the oldest reported example dating to the 14th century. While some attribute the practice to ancient superstitions for warding off evil, there are numerous theories, including some related to luck and fertility.

“I prefer to use the term ‘folk belief,’ ” said Patrick Donmoyer, site manager of the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University. “It doesn’t surprise me that a shoe was found,” he added, noting that the tradition was widespread in the 19th century.

Soon after the shoe was removed, the Croziers noticed strange occurrences. Footsteps were heard overhead when no one was there. Doors opened by themselves. The whirlpool tub repeatedly turned on by itself.

It was easy to shrug these things off, but when Cheryl was pushed into the wall by an unseen force, she told John, “We better put that shoe back.”

“As soon as we did, the odd activity ended,” he said.

Though they still like their squeaky floors, they don’t miss the other noises and commotions.