Sheltering Jewels: Our Old Houses

Subject: Sheltering Jewels: Our Old Houses Fri 20 Jul 2007, 7:19 pm

They may have been made of stone, of wood, of masonry .... or even of mud, hides or branches, but their value extends far beyond the shelter they have provided.

Images of old dwellings -- and their short histories, if available -- are welcome additions, here.

Here is an early, twentieth-century home still standing in the shade of Central Expressway in Richardson, and a little of its story:

http://i20.servimg.com/u/f20/11/26/71/51/110_cu10.jpg

http://i20.servimg.com/u/f20/11/26/71/51/110_cu11.jpg
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Sam and Margaret Houston's Woodland Home Fri 20 Jul 2007, 8:10 pm

Built of hewn timbers with a breezeway (dog-trot) and covered by siding, the Woodland Home was built in 1847 in Huntsville (Walker County), and was a primary and favorite residence of Gen. and Mrs. Houston.

http://i20.servimg.com/u/f20/11/26/71/51/woodla10.jpg

http://i20.servimg.com/u/f20/11/26/71/51/new_wo10.jpg
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: The Chimney Site (Denton County) Fri 20 Jul 2007, 8:37 pm

A remnant: the sandstone chimney which bears witness to a pioneer log cabin -- built around the middle of the nineteenth century and later covered by board-and-batten siding -- in Ray Roberts Lake State Park, Denton County.

http://i20.servimg.com/u/f20/11/26/71/51/chimne10.jpg
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Smith Rockshelter at Dusk Fri 20 Jul 2007, 8:51 pm

This rockshelter served as a home for people living during the Late- Archaic through the Late-Prehistoric periods in our present state .... some 1,400 - 650 years before present. Food was abundant and water plentiful. Experienced here likely was the shift from the atl-atl as a weapon and a means of obtaining meat to the bow-and-arrow.

Now called the Smith Rockshelter, this early residence may be visited beautiful McKinney Falls State Park in Travis County.

Good sources to turn to in attempting to learn more about the people of this time (or these times) and place -- and of Texas archaeology in general -- are the following:

Parker Nunley, 'A Field Guide to Archeological Sites of Texas,' Texas Monthly Press, 1989; and

Texas Memorial Museum, 'Toward a Statistical Overview of the Archaic Cultures of Central and Southwestern Texas,' U. T. Austin, 1967.

http://i20.servimg.com/u/f20/11/26/71/51/smith_11.jpg
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: Sheltering Jewels: Our Old Houses Sat 21 Jul 2007, 9:28 am

Nice place. Who was the builder?

Subject: *Other* Outbuildings Fri 03 Aug 2007, 1:34 pm

Little Collin County Outhouse (ca. 1975) ... neglected and cast off to the tall grasses and weeds ...

_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: Sheltering Jewels: Our Old Houses Sat 04 Aug 2007, 12:07 pm

Pretty close to the fenceline that one was HA HA Takes me back.

Subject: No basements in Texas? Sat 13 Oct 2007, 7:36 pm

Thanks for the welcome. And I do have a question. You guys don't have many basements here, none actually that I've seen. Is this a choice from your way of doing things or is there another reason? Maybe the climate has something to do with it but if anyone knows I'd be curious.

~~**Lindsay**~~

Subject: Re: Sheltering Jewels: Our Old Houses Sun 14 Oct 2007, 9:48 pm

Hello, Lindsay ...

The only full-scale basements that I'm aware of both were in older homes and both located in Grayson County: one in Tioga and another in Gainesville. I always thought that the Austin Chalk/ limestone that runs beneath the Blackland Prairie (Dallas area and extending northward and southward in a thin band across the state) prevented the construction of basements. But from what I read on the Web, that is not necessarily so:

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:KHs7Lrs-0zUJ:www.keystoneconcrete.com/basementbrochure.rtf+basements+Texas&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&ie=UTF-8

My husband suggested the water table's influence, yet from what the 'websters' suggest, that in and of itself is not an absolute obstacle to building a basement.

Perhaps you are correct in that the mild climate had a bearing on the sparseness of these subterranean rooms across Texas. Also, the Southern building tradition which settlers carried to these borders may have borne weight. I don't believe that many old, Southern homes are equipped with basements. But I'm no engineer or architectural historian, so those are simply guesses!

In any event, they sure are neat to have Smile

My dad lived for a while in a Victorian home at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, which sported a large den, small bedroom and bathroom .... all beneath the main portion of the dwelling. The basement felt like a very safe place to be when under a tornado warning (which occurred not infrequently)!

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: Sheltering Jewels: Our Old Houses Sat 20 Oct 2007, 3:17 pm

No need for storing things down below in the winter and all the rock round Dallas. Folks not expectin them in their houses and just plain to much money.

Subject: Re: Sheltering Jewels: Our Old Houses Sat 27 Oct 2007, 7:04 pm

Thanks for the explanations. It could have been a trend that never caught on here like you said. Basements are cool though except when they flood!

Subject: Re: Sheltering Jewels: Our Old Houses Sat 27 Oct 2007, 9:00 pm

Hmmm ... I just noticed above that I placed Gainesville -- the seat of Cooke County -- in Grayson Rolling Eyes

I love those two counties but tend to run them together .... which is strange, because in several respects, they are very different.

A word to the wise: if you catch me ever dropping county names or giving directions, beware! North is just as easily the correct (read: WRONG) route to take as is south, if coming from me. But I do try; really I do Suspect

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Wrangler Joined : 13 Nov 2007 Posts : 49

Oh Oh!! I know the answer to this one!

The reason you do not see basements in Texas is due to expansive soils. The clay soil found in the prairie results from ancient lake or sea beds or some form of prior flood plain. This fine particulate matter has a tendency to expand, which pushes in the walls of a basement resulting in a house collapsing. There are also some loam and sandy soils that can have expansive properties, but the clay found in the south is why you see no basements here.

Sorry but rock and climate have nothing to do with it. Actually, digging down to bedrock for footing contact is ideal, but most areas you have to dig too much to find it. The extra digging for a more solid foundation doesn't have a consistant pay off in this area when shallower footings will do just fine for the light wieght of a normal house.
In short, Expansive soils crush basements. Northern areas do not have the expansive clay that we do down here.

Subject: Re: Sheltering Jewels: Our Old Houses Wed 14 Nov 2007, 2:49 am

Yes ... well, Lady Trees ... you are a friend of approaching thirty years now; my dear, brilliant friend ... bearing answers that I only can grapple for and lose hold of. So, thank you! for your wisened reply sunny

TreesbytheSea also is born of the sturdy pioneers of Collin County, so she harbors deep dust here .... though was led to discover her roots in the far West.

I will say no more, except 'thank you' ever and always for your insight Smile

And to ask, just how far down does one have to drill to reach bedrock in North Texas (if I am understanding the situation correctly) Question

_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Wrangler Joined : 13 Nov 2007 Posts : 49

Brilliant, aren't you generous! And funny!
Depth depends on where you are standing. The house behind my son's house is directly on top of bedrock. They had to import soil for his lawn. My son's house is about two feet, some spots are less than a foot. My house is exactly a fairly even three and a half feet across the entire lot. These three houses are within 2.5 miles of each other in Collin County. Some spots may be 20 feet. It really depends on where you are. The only way to know for sure is to dig.

You could use modern methods of building retaining walls to build a reasonably indestructable basement here. Without writing a boring epic novel on the topic, unless your heart is set on it (personally, I think there are plenty of good reasons to do so), it's just easier to float a slab on top of this mess.
It was not quite fair of me to say that rock has nothing to do with it, but it is not the primary concern. The rock is stable (albeit expensive and time consuming to jack through), the soil is not stable, you still have to deal with it and it is a heavy difficult mess that is best left alone.
As for the link in the earlier post, not entirely wrong, but consider the source, they are selling something. A structural or soil engineer will tell you otherwise.
Gawd I drone on sometimes. Sorry.