The beginnings of our house

We moved into our house twenty-five years ago this summer. We were thrilled to discover that the Don Smith family — who built the house in 1954 and lived here for about forty years — left us a treasure trove of what I consider "historic" records. You might not consider documents from the 1950s as historic, but given Americans' propensity to tear down buildings and replace them with newer models, any documents that survive tell an important story. And the house is still here as well. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

This is the page from a magazine like Better Homes and Gardens that shows what our house looked like when it was built — because the Smiths used these plans. And we have photo documentation as well. 

This advertising flyer touts the benefits of this new neighborhood, Orchard Ridge. When our house was built, Orchard Ridge was virtually a country suburb. Our street was a gravel road. 

On the reverse side of the above flyer is this map showing the proposed "Beltline Boulevard Route" that would whisk you downtown in twelve minutes. This was built and today is known as the West Beltline and it will take you downtown in twelve minutes — early on a Sunday morning. The rest of the time it is packed full of traffic!

This is the landscape plan of all the trees and shrubs that the Smiths put in when they built the house. Mark and I used this to identify what was still here after we bought the house. A surprising number of things were all still growing right where they'd been planted. 

Since we bought this property to create a garden, this bill from the original landscape designer is our favorite item. Look at the incredible list of material that you could get for a mere $150.00 back then. Today one can easily pay that for a specimen tree!

We've always intended to frame these items and hang them in our front entranceway. And, of course, they will stay with the house when we leave. If you have any kind of documetation like this for your house or garden, I urge you to preserve it for the future. These pieces of paper help us remember that we are just the custodians of our property, not the "owners." And I like to think that they will help the next family who lives here to understand that as well.

Tomorrow: The history of our house in photographs.  

Comments

[Lisa at Greenbow]

These are treasures. You are lucky to have them. I can't wait to see the rest. Gary bought our house from the original owners. He said he got nothing along these lines, just a mortgage. ;)

[Kris P]

These are wonderful mementos, Linda! Californians are inclined to tear down homes rather than preserving them too. My brother lives in our childhood home (also built in 1954) and he was able to find records on-line that once advertised the home and those surrounding it as "estate" properties, which is pretty ridiculous if you saw the homes now, but they were indeed constructed in the mid-century modern mold. I don't have any data on the home my husband and I now inhabit, built in 1951, which was also constructed with classic mid-century features, although these have been tinkered with by prior owners. One day I'll see if I can dig a little deeper to look for the original plans but I believe our home was built by the original owner as a stand-alone property long, long before the city around us was incorporated.

[rusty duck]

I love old documents like this, they tell such a story. And if related to your own house specifically then even more so!
Future buyers will also have your blog, if you choose to tell them about it, so they can see how the garden has developed in modern times. I'm not sure whether my own blog would be a fascination or have prospective buyers head for the hills!

[Michael Bridgeman]

Great stuff. I've been doing research on ranch houses and this is terrific material.

[Linda Brazill]

They also left us the plans for the addition and all the booklets, repair receipts etc for appliances that were in the house. Very much the work of a professor's wife to my mind. Reminded me of my mother and the way women of the 50s took charge of household records.

[Linda Brazill]

I think future buyers would love your blog. You've done so much work to make your house/garden livable and all to the good. Plus you've really worked hard to maintain the authenticity of your house as much as possible which is what so few folks do today.

[Linda Brazill]

That is so lovely that your brother lives in your childhood home. I have never driven past my grandparents' houses or our last family home because I don't want to ruin my memories. Nice to have those preserved.

[Peter/Outlaw]

How lucky you are to have this documentation. It's true, we're just stewards of our homes even though they sure feel like they're ours when we're living in them.