NW 20th Ave - Part 3 - Smoke House

How could you not love this little building...It actually reminded me of the Dwarf's house from Snow White...The door is quiet low and I imagine most ppl (including myself) would have to duck to get inside and then you would be limited to standing in the center of the room if you wanted to straighten up.

I am told it was refered to as "the smoke house" by the family, but it functioned as much more than that...Yes they would hang the smoked and cured meats in here, but as you can see, it was also where momma stored all her canned foods as well...And please don't panic, I was not silly enough to actually enter the building to obtain the photos of the shelves and mason jars, I stuck my hand through the opening and clicked the camera, hoping for a reasonable photo and praying for no bears or raccoons to come out and eat me lol....It has a door at the back of the room also which leads to a covered area that was open on two sides. I am sure this is where much of the meat and vegetable preparation was done before it was taken inside to be stored.

I had to share this with you...An old bed frame was used to close up part of the fenced area around the house, over the years this sapling has grown around the metal frame work...No opening this makeshift gate now.

Blessings Kelsie

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NW 20th Ave - Part 2 - Barn

Be sure to click images to enlarge...

It really does not get much cuter than this old log barn...To think each log was chopped down and de-barked by hand before being put into place just blows my mind...They may not have had much money back then, but they knew how to make good use of the resources on hand..Check out the angle the doors are sitting. The North/East corner of the building has collapsed giving the doors an almost cartoonish look to them....

A few things left hanging on the wall of the barn, at one time these must have been important enough to someone to need to be able to find them easily...

Last weeks photo shoot got postponed because of rain, but I did get to go this week and shoot the green house on 129. I have about 150 images to go thru before I share the best ones...My friend and amazing photographer Lois Fletcher, joined me yesterday, so I hope to share some of the photos she got as well...We also visited the Quilt Museum and I interviewed Ms Horne whom happens to have some interesting stories (to say the least) about her family, and was able to share some of the history behind NW 10th ave and also the green house on 129...I have one more person I would like to interview about the green house before I share what I have learnt so far...

Until then, Blessings Kelsie

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NW 20th Ave - Part 1

I am very excited to share this home built in 1940 with you today because not only was it lived in by 3 people that are very close to my heart, but also I have the history behind it to share...

My First Glimpse

I had not personally been to this home site before the day I was going to take pictures and once I entered the property via a stock yard gate off to the side, I got my first glimpse of the house and house yard...I knew at this moment it was going to be a challenge to photograph as the house garden has become a wild jungle of vines and over grown shrubbery, so much so that the house is completely invisible from the road even though it is barely 20 feet from the county setback...

Front Porch

Built in 1940 by the parents of my neighbors...It is 3 bedroom and had an indoor bathroom added later...I am told it originally had a double outhouse in back...Other updates added over the years as you can see in this photo included aluminum windows and new siding on most of the house.

Front Steps

The first people to sleep in the house was not actually the couple that built it but their daughter Audrey and her husband got that honor..

Air duct/vent in the peek of the front porch

Later Audrey's brother Jr and his new bride Lucille lived in the house for the first 3 months they were married...They later moved a little north to the house that proceeded this one as the "family home" alas that home was lost to the hurricanes of 2004 and I was never able to get photos of it.

Vines on Chimney

You can make out the original siding under the new in this photo...

In the 1980's the parents passed away and the home was then lived in by another son Clyde for a year before he married and moved with his new wife to a home just around the corner...At this point the house became a rental property...

Vines over Chimney Stack

Sadly this caused a few problems for the home, as often those renting older properties do not respect them, and damage was done, windows were broken...

View of South Side of the Home...

All updated siding and windows on this side of the house...

Back Porch

You can see on the back porch they left the original siding and the older original windows frames are still intact.

Back Door...

After the last tenant moved out in the late 1980's, the family opted to have the power shut off...Not knowing that this decision would be the beginning of the end for this home...It proved to be too costly just a few years later, not just restore the home, but bring it up to the new codes that would allow them to have the power turned back on...

More back Porch..

Detail on Back Porch..

I am not sure what this is but find it rather fascinating...I plan to take the photos to my neighbor's house and see if they can shed any light on it for me..

Lovely old Window

This is another property that still has some outbuildings standing which I plan to share with you in the next post as there are just to many photos to put in must one post....

News Update:

I have obtained permission to photograph 2 more homes close by and already have some information about them...Plus I am going to interview a lady who is the curator of a local museum next week, that is a wealth of knowledge on the history of the area...She also happens to be the granddaughter of the builder of the "green house in the field on 129" (those of you reading this that are from the area will know that house well)..I am so excited to be allowed to get up close and personal to this one as most ppl have to be satisfied with taking pictures from the highway..yay...She is also the niece of the man who built the house on nw10th that I posted previously...so now I have a family name and the history to share with you on that one too...

Needless to say I am very happy with how this endeavor is shaping up...Everyone I have spoken too so far is more than happy to share what they know about the homes and/or help me track down people that might know even more or be related too the original families...It seems to be turning into quiet the community project...

I hope you will continue to stop by and enjoy the Lost Homes of Levy Co and their stories.
Kelsie