In architectural parlance, pen is just another word for room, and when considering the hard lives sharecroppers faced, it seems cruelly appropriate. Some call these utilitarian houses “early duplexes” and in some cases, it’s true that two families lived in them, but more often than not, the term double-pen just means two rooms.

The Georgia Historic Preservation Divisions has this to say about the double-pen cottage: “Double-pen houses consist of two rooms, typically square. As in the single-pen house, the arrangement and location of openings varies, but the most easily recognizable double-pen house has two doors in the main facade. Chimneys or flues may be located at either or both ends. Gabled roofs are the most common by far. Few double-pen houses remain in their original form in Georgia. Most of these were constructed for agricultural or industrial workers between the 1870s and 1930s…”

I believe this tenant house is the last remaining structure on this historic farm property. The Durrence family had a large tobacco operation here at one time. As to the house, it sits on modern tapered cinderblock piers so it has been re-settled, as a means of preservation. It has no impact on the importance of the structure. .