Our House
Our house was built by Dad. At first, while my oldest sister was a baby, my parents lived in a log house while Dad built the bigger house. Not much is known about this house. but it had two rooms with a ladder going to the loft. It was later used for a pig barn, after the big house was finished. For many years, only part of the big house was finished. After the family grew, more room was needed, so an addition was built on.
The first part of the house had a kitchen and living room downstairs, with two bedrooms upstairs. I was daughter No. 5, and I remember this part of the house very well. All the children slept in one large room. We had two double beds and one small "baby bear" bed that our dad had made. It was made of rough lumber and painted green. The youngest one always slept in there. I always crawled into that bed to hide whenever Santa Claus came to visit, as I was afraid of him. I remember crawling under the covers and hoping he would never come upstairs, because then I'd be trapped, having no place to go. Until the addition was built, we slept three in a bed. Mother and Dad slept in the other room, which was smaller.
It was really cold up there in winter. The only heat we had was a small floor register above the wood heater in the living room. We usually dressed by the register or around the heater in the living room. Also, it was a north room with one window (no storm window), which was covered with frost all winter.
After the addition was built, we had more room. Dad added a dining room, bedroom, an extra room upstairs, which we used as an attic, a large front porch and a back porch. Now we had room to put our dining room table, which had been in the living room. We got a davenport and chair to go into the living room. I am still using the dining room table. Mother and Dad bought it when they were married. They paid $12 for the table and $6 for each of six chairs. It is made of solid oak, and has four leaves that can extend the table to comfortably seat twelve people. Many a big gathering has been served around that table on the farm and also since it's been in my house. I also still have the chair that came with the living room set. It has been recovered and looks good.
We have been off the farm now since 1936. We go out there every year at Christmastime to cut our own Christmas tree. The house still looks the same. Little has been done with it except water, lights, and a bathroom were put in. The reason we can get our Christmas tree there is that the new owners planted the farm into a tree farm, after my parents spent nearly 40 years clearing the land of trees!
Picture: Old House before addition. Mom, Ruth, Dorothy, & Esther are in the picture
Picture: Summer view of the house after the addition
Picture: Winter view of the house after the addition
