Friday, October 10, 2008

Old House in the Countryside

My husband and I went to a few yard sales today.

One sale we visited was at a Civil War era house out in the country. We had been there before and I remember how I loved their old house. We had our camera today and when I asked her if I could take a picture, she said, "Why, yes you can take some pictures."

The house has only been deeded twice and the first family who owned it sided with the Confederates. In West Virginia it wasn't unusual for neighbors to be on different sides in the Civil War. She said the story goes that they hid their horses in the house whenever the Union forces were in the area. She also stated that one of the sons who lived there during the war had his legs broke because he would not fight.

The lady who lives there now with her husband is a very good painter. Many of her paintings hang on the walls inside their house. Here is a picture she painted of the homestead as it looked long ago. If you notice there was no road in the area then. She said the original owners had over 1000 acres.

Here is the front of the house as it looks now.

Here is another view of the house.

Here is the old bell that is original to the house. It now hangs on the upper back porch.


And I just couldn't resist taking a picture of this concrete pig in the back yard.

It is a lovely old house. She said when they used to have a garden she found many arrowheads in the tilled up ground which were left by even earlier inhabitants of the area. As you know by one of my earlier posts, I also have collected arrowheads from our garden area.

I love going to yard sales and meeting interesting people. Even though we were pressed for time today we found time to stand and talk and learn about a little piece of our area's past history...and make friends.

4 comments:

  1. The painting is really wonderful, and the house is amazing! I would have loved to have been along with you today!

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  2. I think I know where that house is, Janet. It is beautiful. I believe it sat empty for a while. It is a beauty. Thank you for the photos.

    PS the claypot scarecrow is so cute!

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  3. What an amazing house-just think if it could tell us all its seen.

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  4. What a great experience and a great story. I love it when you take the time to find out about your area, you hear so many interesting tales. I really like her picture of the house in earlier times and then to see the house as it is now.

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