My house began life in 1936 as a modest one-room brown-and-white cabin with outdoor plumbing and a well. It sat on an original Pine Lake lot 20 feet wide and 100 feet deep. The lot cost $69.50.
Most likely no photos from the early days survive, but the snapshot above pretty much lets the viewer imagine the square little box my house once was. In this photo, taken in the 1960s or 1970s, a pine tree has grown so close to the house the front screen door wouldn't open fully..
At some point rooms were added, and the house looked like this:
Here's another view of the expanded house:
Janelle Akins purchased the house from her sister in the 1970s or early 1980s. It's unclear who owned it before Janelle's sister.
Here's a photo of the inside, taken in the 1970s, from the living (front) room, looking toward the rear of the house. My readers can see the inside was as cabin-like as the exterior.
By this time, of course, sewer and water lines had long been laid. In front of the house stood a white gazebo that covered the capped well.
That's Janelle leaning happily on a cord of firewood.
The house was heated by this big stone fireplace in the living room.
In 1985 Janelle hired her brother Bryan, a carpenter, to remodel the house. It was a major renovation. Bryan gutted the house, replacing the cast iron sewer pipe with modern PVC, replacing the 60 amp electrical box with a 150 amp box, redoing the plumbing and putting in new bathroom fixtures, laying new flooring, installing sheetrock. It was a right mess.
Above, Bryan works on the sewer pipes. Below is a view from the kitchen, taken during the remodel.
Bryan poured a nice concrete driveway...
... and he added a fireplace at the back of the house and installed this antique 70,000 BTU gas furnace in front of the main fireplace...
... but most importantly, he added a room to the second story. Note the missing section if roof in the photo below.
Slowly a new shape emerged.
And a new look both outside, due to vinyl siding...
... and inside.
When Bryan was finished, the house had acquired the look it still has today:
Note: I am greatly indebted to Janelle.Akins, who kindly lent me the above photos and allowed me to scan them.
Most likely no photos from the early days survive, but the snapshot above pretty much lets the viewer imagine the square little box my house once was. In this photo, taken in the 1960s or 1970s, a pine tree has grown so close to the house the front screen door wouldn't open fully..
At some point rooms were added, and the house looked like this:
Here's another view of the expanded house:
Janelle Akins purchased the house from her sister in the 1970s or early 1980s. It's unclear who owned it before Janelle's sister.
Here's a photo of the inside, taken in the 1970s, from the living (front) room, looking toward the rear of the house. My readers can see the inside was as cabin-like as the exterior.
By this time, of course, sewer and water lines had long been laid. In front of the house stood a white gazebo that covered the capped well.
That's Janelle leaning happily on a cord of firewood.
The house was heated by this big stone fireplace in the living room.
In 1985 Janelle hired her brother Bryan, a carpenter, to remodel the house. It was a major renovation. Bryan gutted the house, replacing the cast iron sewer pipe with modern PVC, replacing the 60 amp electrical box with a 150 amp box, redoing the plumbing and putting in new bathroom fixtures, laying new flooring, installing sheetrock. It was a right mess.
Above, Bryan works on the sewer pipes. Below is a view from the kitchen, taken during the remodel.
Bryan poured a nice concrete driveway...
... and he added a fireplace at the back of the house and installed this antique 70,000 BTU gas furnace in front of the main fireplace...
... but most importantly, he added a room to the second story. Note the missing section if roof in the photo below.
Slowly a new shape emerged.
And a new look both outside, due to vinyl siding...
... and inside.
When Bryan was finished, the house had acquired the look it still has today:
Note: I am greatly indebted to Janelle.Akins, who kindly lent me the above photos and allowed me to scan them.
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