These photographs date to 2009 and 2017, respectively. I’ve always been fascinated by this house. It’s a board-and-batten hall-and-parlor with an attached kitchen. I’m not sure it’s still standing.
Jimmy Troupe tells me that his great-grandfather, Joshua Troupe, built this house in the 1890s, and it was subsequently home to his grandfather, H. A. Troupe, Sr., and his father, H. A. “Sonny Boy” Troupe, Jr. Jimmy grew up in the house and still owns it today. It’s likely the house was expanded at some point to its present layout. He also told me his grandmother said the family name was originally Troup but the “e” was added later, and that just up the road, toward Fitzgerald, there was a Troupe Schoolhouse in the early 1900s. The family was well-represented in the area.
The earliest known owner of this Ashton landmark was Reuben Walker, and like the Troupe House, it’s believed to date to the 1890s. I’m not sure it was built the way it presently appears, or it was a central hallway cottage with the gabled second floor added soon thereafter. It’s a vernacular interpretation of the Queen Anne style. The Aycock family are more recent owners.
This vernacular Craftsman farmhouse is a favorite among this style that I’ve photographed. The colorful shingles in the front gable are quite distinctive. I believe this was the center of an historic farm.
This old house, located on Happy Valley Road, appears to date to the late 19th century. Sidelights are barely visible around the front door. My tentative identification of this home site as a farmhouse is based on the fact that in their rural context it’s likely that at the very least the owners were involved in subsistence agriculture on some scale.
This Georgian Cottage is at the center of a large historic farm which still has many of its original outbuildings and dependencies. As I often see in my travels, a more modern home stands nearby, but the old homeplace proudly endures as a link to the past and out of respect to those who cultivated the land before the new generation came along.
The gabled-ell or winged gable form is one of the most common of the vernacular house types of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in rural Georgia. Most of these originated as small central hallway or hall-and-parlor houses and were expanded as a family’s needs required more space.
This photo was made in 2015 and I believe it was on Nolan Store Road. I’m not sure if it was near the Nolan Plantation, though.
This home is the center of an historic Centennial Farm, a designation meaning the property has been actively farmed by one family for at least a century. There were several historic outbuildings present, as well, but I was only able to get a shot of the house, which was later expanded into a winged-gable form.
This small farmhouse is an exemplar of the central hallway form, including shed rooms at the rear, and has been wonderfully maintained. The decorative porch posts are a notable feature.
A couple of people have reached out to me over the past few years suggesting that I photograph the home of Simmie King, in the Flat Creek community. I’m glad I finally made it. It’s a truly wonderful Folk Victorian farmhouse and appears to be in very good condition. I’m reminded again how grateful I am to property owners who recognize the importance of saving these places.
Simmie King (12 November 1880-4 August 1957) was the son of pioneer settlers John Hardy King (2 November 1839-1 February 1912) and Lucy Jane Pounds King (6 July 1844-5 November 1929) of Cecil, Georgia.
Though I don’t have a specific date for the house, it was probably built around the time Simmie and Lucy McMillan King (1 February 1883-27 October 1973) were married. I’m guessing that was between 1900-1903.