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The way things used to be. Dog Run. Old house. W. A. Cross family

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Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Advantage

Center TX W A Cross

This picture hangs in my office.  I never knew the people.  I do know their name because it was written on the back of the picture.  Rev. W. A. Cross, Center Texas, March 12, 1955.

But you'll agree that it is a step back in time.  The unpainted frame house with a dog run, tin roof and chimney on one end and a yard with a fence and gate to keep the animals out are so authentic looking.  The Reverend is stern looking but his wife stands beside him to keep him in order and his cap hangs on the fence post.  There is at least one person in the dog run....a lady with a white collar and dark dress.

The window is raised with some curtains showing.  The doorsteps are wood and not too even.  I can't tell what the thing on the porch is; it does not look like a swing.  Perhaps the Sleuths can tell.

Enjoy this glimpse of the past!

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Don Thompson
Donthomp Associates - Sunnyvale, CA

Barbara, thanks for educating me about a architectural style born in the South (probably Georga). 

“the old dog was too hot to trot, as they say, the covered breezeway was the perfect escape from the region's engulfing heat and humidity. Thus, the name "dogtrot" was born to describe a new form of domestic architecture forever linked to the South”

“on the dog trot....Love the dog walk...Dog trot...home - dog run....DOG TROT/BREEZE WAY”

Dog Run House of Texas

So a house designed with a porch with breezeway is called a dog trot or run design.
Nov 27, 2012 11:31 PM
Anonymous
Mary Dunn

Can't believe the date for this photo.  I would have guessed at least 10 years earlier.  I don't think I ever saw a dog trot house though I have read of them.  I am more familiar with the large white frame house with a porch stretching across the front and sometimes wrapping to one side or the two bedroom/one bath frame, post WWII houses.  A lot of those must have been built by returning servicemen.  There is a whole neighborhood in West Memphis of nothing else and one near here in Troy, NY of the same style ith brick facades.

Nov 28, 2012 12:12 AM
#7
Anonymous
Mary Dunn

Don...I could live in the house you pictured (minus the dog), but I would probably keep those magnificent doors closed.  I don't like bugs either.

Nov 28, 2012 12:14 AM
#8
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Anita, see closeup.  It is a cap....military like.

closeup

Nov 28, 2012 02:02 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Don, thanks for admitting I was right but the ones I remember certainly did NOT look like your picture.  Also see the closeup that I did for Anita and you can see probably other people sitting in the cool dog trot....run...

Mary, his picture is quite a contrast from "the way it used to be."

Nov 28, 2012 02:10 AM
Don Thompson
Donthomp Associates - Sunnyvale, CA

I bet that hat is a WWI military hat. It looks a little high for a WWII hat.

So the cow is actually dark images of more people.

Nov 28, 2012 02:54 AM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

My apologies to Barbara and any other Active Rainers who might have thought me "smarting off" to Barbara.  I conceed that it IS indeed, a cap...albeit military.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a picture of a log cabin here in Greers Ferry, with a dog trot run in the middle.  Took a picture this morning....I wish the dog trot had been open but it wasn't.  Bob will post it tomorrow.

 

 

Nov 28, 2012 04:11 AM
#12
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Don, right!  I'll bet there are several others back there. 

Anita, no one would ever accuse you of smarting off to anyone!  HA!  : )

Nov 28, 2012 04:37 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Anita tracked down a dog-run house for us.  It is in Greers Ferry.  Here's the photo.

Dog run house. Greer's Ferry

Nov 29, 2012 02:12 AM
Anonymous
Mary Dunn

WOW!!  THis house is so well peserved it makes me wonder if it is actually an old, well preserved house or a reproduction of one.  What a find, Anita!!

Nov 29, 2012 03:36 AM
#15
Anonymous
Harold Gene Sullivan

The house with a dog trot reminds me of my grandmother's house in NE Drew county.  The breezeway was well used as that was the coolest place to sit and shell peas, shuck corn, or any other chore one needed to do.  It was a really practical feature.  Hers was like many of these with a fireplace, for heating, only on one side.

Nov 29, 2012 07:39 AM
#16
Don Thompson
Donthomp Associates - Sunnyvale, CA

The stacked stone supports for the house intrigues me. That truly is the way houses were supported in younder years. Fortunately there were no codes then for earthquake. My father owned a house in Palo Alto, CA that had a foundation like that. When the house was sold, it was as is and cash was paid since no mortgage co. would lend money. The buyer was a architect just starting out and he planned to add a concrete foundation.

This the Google Man's view of the house. Looks like there is a foundation.

 

Charleston & Central Expressway, Palo Alto, CA

Nov 29, 2012 07:58 AM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

Mary, I had a friend (she's dead now) who told me a little about this house.  I'm pretty sure it is one that the present owners rehabbed from the original, did not build a new one.  They live in Memphis and come over, mostly in summer.  My friend was always going to "let" me go in it, but alas she died so that's no longer an option.  I'm thinking IF I ever see anyone there, I might go by, introduce myself and ask to see inside the house.  "Nothing ventured, nothing gained"....

Nov 29, 2012 08:02 AM
#18
Anonymous
Debbie Wantulok

Ms. Anita...GREAT picture of a dog run house...we had one for our deer camp...loved it...a little strange but we used one side for the family and the other side for dogs...it worked well for us and everyone loved it...we had an old pot belly stove for heat and limited cooking too.

When we lived in Walnut Ridge our house was fashioned as a dog run house but with the end enclosed.  We used it for the dining room.

I really like the dog run houses...I am really surprised the Mr. Don hadn't heard of them...I guess we are not politically correct down here...hehe...

Love the picture...the old couple remind me of so many people...and the house too! 

Nov 29, 2012 08:18 AM
#19
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Here's a house in Pioneer Village that is old and has the look ....minus the dog run.  It is worth a trip through if you have never been to the village.

Pioneer Village Searcy AR

Nov 29, 2012 09:44 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Don, your California house looks VERY Californiaish.  I can't believe it was ever tall enough to have these old supports.  Look at the old hand push mower in the yard at Pioneer Village.

Nov 29, 2012 09:45 AM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Barbara, my in-laws lived in the northwest corner of Georgia, and my oldest son went to school in your town, Harding University.  So I drove around the South a lot, and was amazed the number of older homes like this that were still standing.

Dec 01, 2012 12:59 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

George, they are out there.  I grew up in South Georgia and the houses were just open underneath.  I guess with no plumbing you don't worry about the pipes freezing.  LOL

Dec 01, 2012 06:45 AM
Wayne Johnson
Coldwell Banker D'Ann Harper REALTORS® - San Antonio, TX
San Antonio REALTOR, San Antonio Homes For Sale

Barbara-Interesting pictures and great to revisit the past. Since they are only pictures, we are left to add whatever we think of that time.

Dec 02, 2012 03:22 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Wayne, you are right and it is fun to do, isn't it?  We know that someday folks will be looking at OUR old pictures and wondering about us.

Dec 02, 2012 03:40 AM
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