Acreage & Buildings

Our Dixie Home

House

Our house went on Canyon County tax rolls in the early 1930's, but according to a neighbor was originally built in 1888, at which time Canyon County was a part of Ada County, Idaho Territory. (A state in the northwest United States, Idaho was admitted as the 43rd state in 1890.) The original story and one-half was added onto a couple times, and in the 1980's updated extensively. What was formerly a bedroom is now the south end of the kitchen; the old back porch is now a utility room; and what was once an attached walk-in ice house is now a pantry. Many improvements, however, were destroyed by a subsequent owner, or have deteriorated, since then.

One former owner painted the natural red fir siding on the house a barn red color, which we were forced to keep but did repaint this spring. He also demolished the screened-in front porch, roofed over the second story deck and tore down the only stairway leading upstairs, sawed off the two upstairs bedrooms, tore down fences, drastically altered outbuildings, and destroyed too many other things to mention. Consequently, we have been repairing, remodeling, painting, and fixing this place up since we bought it in November of 1999.

We began moving and stayed overnight here that year on my husband's birthday, December 4^th. Since our king-sized waterbed frame wouldn't fit into the small bedroom, we slept in sleeping bags on the living room floor. That lasted several weeks until we scraped up the money for a queen-sized mattress and box springs.

Though the construction and repairs are no where near completion, we have come a long way, replacing rotted and missing floors, broken windows, screens, screen doors, plumbing, walls, sinks, cabinets, fencing, and, well...I think you get the picture. It's been fun, but there's a lot more "fun" to go and we're both exhausted.

This winter we had quite a lot of snow, most of which melted off during a warm spell in late February. In March we had only a few snow storms and in April (2001) we were up to our hocks in mud. May has been warm, so it's time to get back into the swing of it again.

The photos below, taken by our good friend George Wolfe, show what it looks like around here during a regular snowy winter.

January 2001 photos by George Wolfe

Outbuildings

We have four outbuildings which include a barn, bunkhouse, pump house with attached storage room, and a chicken coop. The photo below, taken in the spring of 2000 from a 30 acre pasture just west of our place, shows a portion of our back yard and captures all but the chicken coop.

Barn

We haven't completed the major work on the barn yet, but did replace the staircase handrail and the one-third of the loft floor sawed off by the former owner (whom we affectionately call the "Chainsaw Massacre Man").

One room he left pretty much in tact (except for the installation of a huge Plexiglass window between it and the main barn) is the tack room, which actually still has a floor. There we have so far added a few bridle hooks, saddle stands, and some skimpy curtains.

It's beyond either of us why anyone would saw out the floor of a completely finished barn, install a sliding glass door on its west wall, and then fill it up with cattle, but...to each his own, I guess. (Perhaps he thought the cattle would enjoy viewing the sunset through that patio door.)

Presently, the barn's interior is in a state of disarray, housing much of the furniture, clothing, and boxes of household items moved from the 3 bedroom, 2 bath house that was for 22 years our former primary residence. Once we get the floor installed, which we hope to do this year, we'll be able to determine how many of our belongings will fit in and what we need to dispose of. Meanwhile, we live with the mess.

Bunkhouse

This photo was taken on a foggy morning during the 1999 Christmas season...when our bunkhouse was still a calf shed and Santa Claus perched on the hitching post. Originally built as a leather shop, this 16' x 20' building then contained a wood floor, a wood stove, and work benches. But that was 2 owners ago.

The next owner sawed out the floor, cut a huge opening in the back wall, and added a make-shift partition and feed bunks, converting it into a livestock shed. Although it took quite a bit of time, lumber and labor (and a lot of manure shoveling), we have managed to turn it back into a finished building. We left the open beam ceiling, which really looked pretty cool once we knocked down the wasp's nests and scrubbed off all the bird droppings.

We replaced and hooked up the wood stove, wired and installed a wagon-wheel chandelier, added a hide-a-bed, a few comfortable chairs, and a round hardwood pedestal table and chairs.

An antique captain's chair that has been in my husband's family for 3 generations sets beside an old apple box turned on end, which makes a good lamp table. Lacking end tables, I went out to the woodpile and borrowed a couple of logs cut from a good-sized red fir tree, which work great.

We painted the new plywood floor (al 'a Christopher Lowell design) and topped it off with a Persian-type area rug purchased from the Salvation Army.

There's a horse collar, a hand-painted cow skull (thanks, Bobbi), a couple mirrors, several handsaws, and a rustic winter landscape framed in grayed barn wood on the wall. An old trunk adorns one corner beside a tall free-standing cupboard. Daisies stuck in a bull's horn cascade to the floor from atop a small wooden stepladder and two wooden candle holders occupy the rungs. The side-table beside Richard's recliner (where he sometimes hides out and naps) is an old 10-gallon whiskey barrel. A few rag dolls, kerosine lamps, old spurs, branding irons, and a cowbell that once adorned the neck of Grandma and Grandpa Hinton's bell mare add more "country charm".

A horseshoe serves as a handle for the door of the wood stove, which has a flat top that accommodates a campfire coffeepot, a teapot, or cast iron skillet quite nicely.

Since the above photo was taken, we have added a boardwalk out front and a cedar frame to hide the metal around the window. We're still in the process of decorating and don't have curtains yet, but the bunkhouse is rather cozy already and makes a dandy little guest house.

Pump house

This building is pretty sound, so not much work will be required here. My husband did make and install a window screen so we can open the window and still keep out the insects and birds in the summertime. And, after he bumped his head for the fourth or fifth time, he decided to raise the roof on the attached lean to, built originally as a carport. In the process (and with a bigger bump on the head) he discovered the corner posts had rotted off, so we replaced those as well.

Besides the pump for our artesian well, the pump house stores our deep freeze, a second refrigerator, and storage shelves full of paint, insecticides, antifreeze, light bulbs, and other miscellaneous. Now it also contains a big cart full of construction supplies and tools, which will be stored in the chicken shed once we stop using them so often.

Like the barn, the adjoining storage room is full of junk. We hope, once the other construction is complete, to remove the majority of those items and get it cleaned up.

Chicken coop

We have no photos of the chicken coop, but wish we had taken some before and after. It sets south of the house and southeast of the garden spot between our back yard and pasture. Roughly converted into a calf shed, and the front wall sawed out via Chainsaw, this is another building whose floor covering we used as fertilizer for our flowers and garden.

In addition to replacing the huge hole in the north wall with a large hinged door, we've installed flooring and shop lights, converting it into a fair little work shop. It houses our lawn equipment, Richard's motorcycle, table saw and various carpenter tools.

Security is provided by Smith & Wesson and one big watchdog!

To see interior photos of the house, continue

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