In 2010, Bob Abbott decided it was high time to move his grandfather’s old dogtrot house from Smead, Arkansas to his place on Pumpkin Hill Road southeast of Rison, Arkansas. The old house had been in its original location since the late 1800s and was no longer owned by the family. It was not in good condition. In fact, Bob was told by many that the old house was well past restoration and that the move was a bad idea. Bob disagreed and finally found an individual who agreed with his disagreement. He made a deal with the current owners and the move was on.
After come careful jacking and loading, the old house was on a trailer and ready to roll. The trip from Smead to Pumpkin Hill Road was in the neighborhood of 47 miles, mainly over back county roads and secondary state highways. See some details of the pre-load condition of the house in our earlier story: The Old House at Smead.
Fortunately the trip was reasonably uneventful and the moving crew safely delivered the ancient cargo to the Pumpkin Hill location. Then the real fun began: Reassembling a house without all its parts. Some parts were simply beyond salvage and the builders had to substitute newer materials and make them fit.
Before we go too much further. may we suggest that you check out the start of this story on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com. You’ll see more pictures and get additional information.
A look inside
Dogtrot houses in their basic form have two rooms separated by a breezeway. One side has sleeping and “living” quarters, the other side has a kitchen and dining area. In almost all dogtrot houses, the family eventually made additions to the structure. This one is the two-room version.
There’s more on Pumpkin Hill Road
We’ve visited Bob Abbott’s place on Pumpkin Hill Road before, but for those of you who are not familiar with the place, you’ll also find The Traveler, a fully restored and working (but not rolling) executive rail car from a bygone era. You can learn more on The Traveler in our original Corndancer story, Traveler’s Rest and our Weekly Grist version of Traveler’s Rest.
And as a parting shot, there’s a fine lake on the property. I saw a tree-top reflection in the water. It’s the Almighty’s version of French impressionists made available to me. And to you.
Pumpkin Hill Gallery
We have created a special gallery of 19 pictures of the place on Pumpkin Hill Road which are larger and better resolution than normal web presentation.
If you would like to see the Pumpkin Hill Corndancer and Weekly Grist pictures larger and in greater detail this gallery is for you. Click here.
Thanks for dropping by,
Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html
Filed under: Behind the Scenes, but wait, there's more | Tagged: Almighty, Arkansas, Bob Abbott, chapel on country road, Chapel on Pumpkin Hill Road, dog trot breezeway, dogtrot back porch, dogtrot house, dogtrot house back porch, dogtrot house bedroom, Dogtrot house kitchen, Dogtrot house pumplin hill road, Dogtrot house Rison AR, Joe Dempsey, lake, old house at Smead, old house moving, pictures of dogtrot house, pictures of dogtrot house bedroom, pictures of dogtrot house kitchen, pictures of executive rail car, Pumpkin Hill Road Rison AR, Recreation, Roads and Highways, Smead Arkansas, The Traveler, The Traveler rail car, tree reflection, United States, Weekly Grist |
[…] week we are sending you back to one of our November, 2012 posts, A new place for an old home, an interesting story about moving a more than 100-year-old dogtrot house about forty miles or so […]
What a beautiful old dog-trot home, a prize family heirloom … nicely shot, incidentally, by one of the best. Good ‘un!