I can’t vouch for the age of this little cabin but it’s a great example of the practicality of the gable front form. It may be a restoration or a newer build. Either way, it’s really nice in this wooded setting.
This is likely one of the older houses in Reidsville. I was sure it was about to be leveled when I photographed it in 2023 but it was still standing last year. It was located near the hospital and a public housing development. I’d love to know more about it.
I made this photograph in 2015, not long before this house was torn down or moved. Though it was sided with asbestos, I believe it was an older house. It was located near the intersection of Milefield Road and US Highway 301, at the site of the new roundabout. I had a snapshot photo of better quality but have been unable to locate it, so please overlook the grainy quality of this one. I mainly wanted to share it in hopes that someone might be able to help with an identification.
I photographed this house several years ago and believe it was near the Birdford community. It’s about a half-story taller than most central hallway cottages I document, and the extra height was usually to aid in cooling or food storage instead of for extra rooms. This detail is usually found on houses dating from circa 1870-1900.
The gable front cottage was one of the most common house types in Georgia in the early 20th century, and that was true in Tattnall County, as well. I have a few more to share.
Whether a country store or just a commissary, this structure is part of a group of salvaged and rescued buildings, most of which were moved to the Hughland area for preservation many years ago. It’s possible that this building was original to the location, though I have no background information to confirm either way.
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. .
I’ve always loved this little house and with every glance at the details it proves itself to be a master work of the carpenter who built it. It’s a real skill to fit architectural details into such a small space without overwhelming the structure, but it was done seamlessly here.
There are houses that look nearly identical to this one in almost every town in Georgia. I identify it as Eclectic, because it is a marriage of two styles. At its core, it’s a Queen Anne cottage, but at some time the owners created a more Neoclassical look. In the early 1900s, the Victorian aesthetic was becoming passé and the cleaner lines of Revivalist architecture were being embraced. Tax records date this house to 1910, but my guess is that it was built at least 10-20 years earlier, and 1910 reflects the date it took on its present appearance. Whatever its precise history, it’s a great old house.
Over many years I’ve often found abandoned tobacco barns surrounded by trees and other vegetation. I nearly missed this one, it was so well-camouflaged.