I don't imagine that Haywood county had building inspectors enforcing codes at that time. Was this really the original means of a foundation or is this part of the restoration work? It was like this all the way around the house. The front porch was supported on square cement columns. I should have stuck my head under there to see what was supporting the center.
There was a nice sized porch on the back as well. The house was designed on the dog trot idea with a central corridor that went completely through the house, front to back.
The fireplace was a double having another hearth in the room behind the wall. I am guessing one was the kitchen and the other the front parlor.
This was kind of trippy. Walls and ceilings in some rooms of the houses were papered with old newspaper, magazines and cardboard. Was this an aesthetic addition or for insulation purposes in frame house with just interior and exterior siding at most? You can click on the image and read the paper.
At the end of the road it was a mile long walk into the woods to the next preserved house.
Between 1901 and 1910 Steve Woody enlarged a one room log cabin into a sizable dog trot house.
Much of the open farmland that was in Cataloochee at the time the park was established seventy five years ago has returned to forest.
There is a certain familiarity about the style of architecture of these hundred year old houses. Is that why my postal carrier tells me the folks in Spring Creek have said they really like the cozy cabin?
I will not however have a refrigerator like they did way back when.
My creek is a little on the small side for that.
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8 comments:
I love this place! I'm so glad you finally got up to see it. Did you see any elk?
Very nice indeed. Deer & elk should be roaming around. Not to mention fox, Skunks {eeww}.
Times were hard back then. Some folks used springs to keep certain things cool. My mom did.
Siria I saw and heard elk. It is the rutting season. They will be coming up.
Lola I did see some turkey too. Where exactly did you grow up Lola?
I have seen houses sitting on rocks like that as the foundation. No doubt inspectors would have been dispatched with a double barrel shotgun. No, make that a single barrel, they probably didn't have double barrels back then. I have also seen people use newspaper on their walls as wall paper until they could afford drywall and paint or paper. Dog trot. Hmmmm I don't remember hearing that description for a hall like this.
Fascinating, Christopher! The tombstones were as well. It is fortunate that these houses were preserved. There are some in our city neighborhood now that are being taken back to the earth with trees, shrubs and vines working their way between boards. Nature has awesome power. I hope your chill wind has subsided. For the first time in a week the outside temperature is warmer than inside the house, a good sign to get some stuff done outdoors. Hope you can get rid of the that scaffolding soon! And thanks for the hummer info, it was amazing. Thanks Siria too.
Frances
The houses are very interesting. I especially like the first one, questionable foundation and all. I wouldn't worry about the support, if I had that wonderful front yard view of the water. Near Peaks of Otter in Va. there is a cabin you can reach after a long hike through the forest. Once there you feel as if the residents just got up from the dinner table (realistic plastic food). The walls are papered with glamour mag photos from the 30's and 40's. The whole place feels as if the people in the holler walked out the door to WWII.
Hi Christopher, I was born & lived all my life {till marriage} in a small town in West Tn. Paris. We lived in the country, had a veggie garden, milked the neighbors cow for the milk, also the neighbor had an orchard that we got use of the fruit. We raised our own hog, had chickens {of which we ate, got eggs from} that were sold to help out. It was a rough life but it didn't hurt me any.
Lisa old dog trot houses are still easy to spot around here. There is one I want to take a picture of, but it is too far off the road and I'm afeared to tresspass. After my adventure in plumbing with the inspector man, I sure wouldn't try to slip anything by them.
Francis there are two houses I pass by abandoned in the 70's perhaps that are totally engulfed. If the park service did not preserve these houses they would be long gone. If the wind stops blowing it is officially warm no matter the temperature. I have the scaffolding until the 8th, so I need to have my high painting done by then.
Les the houses were nice. Even the layouts were unique. Just one problem, the ceiling heights were six feet or a hair over. These were not tall people. That sounds interesting about that cabin. Is it in a park?
Lola I will need to google Paris TN now. Sounds like how my mother grew up on a farm raising their own chickens and growing about seven acres of produce until my grandfather got a job, job and sold off the back half of the land.
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