House, Shed, Barn?-UPDATE

This is near where I live and I just gawk at it every time I drive by, it's so interesting. Notice how many doors. I don't have a clue to how old it is but does anyone have an idea as to what it was?

Maybe it could be an apartment house for some workers on a farm. That could explain the extra doors. It could also be a smoke house or something similar. If it were a barn I think it would have bigger doors.

Bunk house for workers? Thats my guess. Sure others will chime in with a guess.

It looks like an old store to me.  I know down South, people generally lived in the area as their store, either above, beside or behind it; either way, it was under the same basic roof.  One of the side doors was probably to the home portion, and the other for the store.  The shorter add-on building was probably for some type of storage.   Breezie

How old do we think it is?

Hi Peach  , It looks like an old barn for goats. Prob 1940s I'd guess    Ex

i would go as late as the 1920's   how about their version of chicken house

How old do we think it is?

I'm guessing maybe the 1930's?  The more I look at it, the more I think it is a store/house combo.  Note there is a window on the far left, and the door next to it appears to have a glass, which probably was the house section.  Breezie

Hey that's my house!!!!
 I think a couple people might be right.
Breezie has a good idea about the store as there were some like she talked about near where I live. A couple were still open in the 1970's
It also looks like it has been used to house animals as well.
 Like DirtyMike said a barm would have had bigger doors.

Looks like there may have been a chimney in the middle of the roof....  That would probably rule out a barn, so I would lean toward Breezie's explanation.
-whynot

Early 1900's School house 1 door for the boys and 1 for the girls, coal stove in the middle.  Privy off the back.

                          Nova Treasure

Early 1900's School house 1 door for the boys and 1 for the girls, coal stove in the middle.  Privy off the back.

                          Nova Treasure

They had separate doors?

The hole in the roof probualy was a vent to let the heat out in the summer.The eve above the barn looks large enough to store Hay in.  Behind the tree on the front of the structure it apears to have a low wide door as to let small farm animals in.   Say, Next time by ,Jump the fence and get some more pictures around back and the inside ! 

I just talked to a friend of mine that has one like that.
the end with the window is a canning kitchen,  right next to that is the coal room, and next to that is for firewood
the house would be about 50 ft. to the left looking at the picture

Early 1900's School house 1 door for the boys and 1 for the girls, coal stove in the middle.  Privy off the back.

                          Nova Treasure

They had separate doors?

There is some schools that had 2 seperate front doors and including Meeting houses in Ky. There are a couple here in my area, but most likely the one you posted is a tendant house.

                           Nova Treasure

Well now for my next question. Is it worth trying to hunt around it?

Well now for my next question. Is it worth trying to hunt around it?

I say it would be a great place to hunt. Somebody, somewhere, sometime, dropped something in that yard. Hunt it before it collapses and rots. Then you got all those nails and tin to deal with.

Good Luck
Randy

I would search it,  you never know what you might find

You've already found a fortune there even if you never swing a coil.  Do you know how much that old barn wood is worth?  People pay top dollar for picture frames and the like made out of that stuff.

But yeah, as old as that place is there's got to be a good amount of pocket spill around it.

Yep, I would hunt it, and your finds will probably determine what the building was  used for and the dates.  Breezie

barn and vehicle garage?

maybe the glass paned door was an office 
the next a hallway
the next two storage or stalls or one of each for horse and the horse stuff or feed.

doors may have been replaced or added over the years too. like one quit working so they put another matching the lean of the bldg.

i'm wondering if this is true. alot of barns deteriate with a lean vs houses fall in. i imagine it's because the house has much more interior walls.

Hard to tell for sure how old it is without seeing the framing and how the boards were cut, but I have a similar structure on my ranch in Texas that dates back to the turn of the 20th century. It was occupied by two families, both of which worked on the farm growing peanuts. The back area was a common kitchen, which originally was detached from the main dwelling.

Why don't you find out who owns it, ask them what it was and ask for permission to MD it! 

Peach ;  The suspence is tooooooo much!         We could sure use more pictures       EX

LOL, Okay I'll get more pics for ya.

LOL, Okay I'll get more pics for ya.

take your detector with you...ha ha!

We have snow on the ground but I'll see what I can do. I talked to the Post Master and he said he would find out who owns it for me. 

   Within eyesight of my front door is an old abandoned ranch I used to explore.  It had barns, a concrete block bunk house and what was strange
was the house was collapsed and the roof was ground level.  I could not
figure out how it got that way but now I think termites ate up the walls.
Found a nice 14K wedding ring under the clothesline.

here is some cool info on these type houses in Ky.   http://books.google.com/books?id=8_gk1Lnek7IC&lpg=PA26&ots=a409KjTstW&dq=kentucky%20house%20with%202%20front%20doors&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q=&f=false

                           Nova Treasure

Nova, thanks for that link. Here are a few more pics that I took today. I looked inside. Instantly my "spider radar" went up. Some of you are well aware of my issue with spiders and may recall the "Skippy" incident. Anyway, here's what I could see from where I stood.

                                  POSTED

 Wow, that was fast!  Thanks Peach,    It looks more like living quarters now than a barn.

Wow, that was fast!  Thanks Peach,    It looks more like living quarters now than a barn.

Or, better, dance hall/saloon. 

I really don't think it was any kind of dance hall because there is absolutely no room for twirling  It's very small inside. What are the two smaller buildings? 

  "Red Light" houses usually had a piano for entertainment.  Plenty of cribs too.

I really don't think it was any kind of dance hall because there is absolutely no room for twirling  It's very small inside. What are the two smaller buildings? 

 Both of the smaller buildings look like tool / garden sheds , maybe the one might have the water well pump in it.   Thanks again for the x-tra pictures.            EX

A good way to get an idea of its age is to look at what type of nails were used to build it (modern round wire type nails , square machine cut nails or the oldest being square hand forged nails ) . Another thing to check is : are the beams in the floor , walls and ceiling held together with wooden pegs ? That is a sign of a very old building .

  "Red Light" houses usually had a piano for entertainment.  Plenty of cribs too.

My thoughts too.  Prohibition era saloon with the extra doors leading to other prohibited activities ;)

i think i notice a metal plate with a round hole in the fourth picture?
could it have been a smoke house?

ah, maybe the outhouse!

what about the wiring type? though it could have been wired later...

it's really neat to see the pictures...thanks.

Okay, I finally found the owners of this place and worked up the courage to ask permission to hunt the property. They are an older couple and are very sweet. I asked what the place was and they said it's a 150 year old house and for years a "colored" family lived there and when they bought the property they even lived in it temporarily. They said someone recently asked if they could tear it down for the wood but they told him, no. They asked what I was hoping to find and I told them anything old like buttons or coins or doodads etc. I told them that they could have anything I found but they declined and just wished me lots of luck. They were so nice. Now I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!!!! This place sure sounds promising don't ya think?    

Congrats
Get out there girl and start digging.
Wishing you lots of finds and fun

thanks for the follow up.
good luck and be careful.

thanks for the follow up.
good luck and be careful.

LOL, that's actually exactly what the owner said.

Peach;  You will score big  on the digs at that house  Wtg  . Looking forward to see the finds ! 

Methinks there will be a lot of re-newed interest in this thread! Myself included!

Methinks there will be a lot of re-newed interest in this thread! Myself included!

Oh the pressure.

It might pay to look inside that old piano. Be careful in
them old building and please show pics of your finds.
Have fun and good luck. Jimbob

I asked what the place was and they said it's a 150 year old house and for years a "colored" family lived there and when they bought the property they even lived in it temporarily.

Juke Joint

Methinks there will be a lot of re-newed interest in this thread! Myself included!

Oh the pressure.

no pressure! this was a particularly interesting posting already. 

  "Red Light" houses usually had a piano for entertainment.  Plenty of cribs too.

funny I thought "Bordello" first glance lol

In this neck of the woods (deep South), I saw many, many houses shaped like that with two "front" doors when I was growing up.  My aunt and uncle had one, in fact.  One door led to the parlor/living room, the other to a bedroom. Few are left now because most weren't painted and were constructed with non-treated wood.  In heavy humidity areas, they don't last many decades.  It looks like the back bedroom was an add-on for more room or kitchen. The only one local that's left was featured in the newspaper about a year ago. It is still lived in. A  wringer washing machine is on the front porch, and clothes generally hang from ropes stretched across the front porch. It was sealed back in the 40s with that fake brown brick-looking tar siding paper, so has held up fairly well, plus it's built up off the ground on blocks.  No ground-to-board contact.

Really watch for varmints!  And I'll bet that piano has real ivory keys. Yes, be sure to lift the top and check, and also drop down the knee panel. And looks like the ceiling/roof isn't too reliable, either.  I'll be checking back! HH!!

 

Mia...it looks like a place were wild critters would go, and for some nice person to go along and feed them

SS

dont forget to look for outlines of buildings not there anymore
there had to be more, over that 150yr period
HH dont forget the pics

I found an ax head in a place like that one time. It was down about 4 inches and no sign of a handle.  Cleaned up real nice.  Someone had propped it up next to the house, and the rest is history.

Here's some stuff from the house.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?topic=307403.new#new

Good Digs!