Tag Archives: Georgia Tenant Houses

Single-Pen Tenant House, Irwin County

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I wish the quality of these images were better, but this is a heavily shaded location and I had to settle for what I could get. These photographs date to 2012 so I’m not certain this house is still extant. But what a great house it is, a textbook example of the workhorse of the tenant farm era, the single-pen cottage. This one had a chimney that would have cost more than the house, undoubtedly. It served its purpose of shelter and warmth, but gave little comfort otherwise. Houses of this type were often built in rows, on a larger farm, reminiscent of the arrangement of slave dwellings on earlier plantations. Of course, a small farmer may have only had one or two such houses on his property. I know nothing about this one, except that I think it was worth documenting.

Single-Pen Tenant House, Irwin County

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I first photographed this house in 2001 and it was still standing in 2015. I haven’t driven past it in a few years and am not sure if it survives. Typical of many tenant houses, it was of board-and-batten construction and had a small shed room at the back. These small utilitarian spaces were often associated with farming and/or turpentining and supported large families in many cases. It’s hard to imagine what life must have been like in such a small space without any of the modern conveniences.

Saddlebag Cottage, Talbotton

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This a rear view of this house, identical to the front, which is obscured by privet and other vegetation. Located in the historic Smith Hill neighborhood, at the edge of Talbotton’s main Black cemetery, it is a typical example of the form, which was nearly always used as tenant housing. The top of the central chimney has been capped, but the hearth remains in place. The house is wider than most early 20th century examples I’ve documented, so I would date it to circa 1870s-1890s. It was later used as rental property.

Single-Pen Tenant Farmhouse, Terrell County

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I’ve passed this spot west of Dawson countless times over the past twenty years and have never noticed this structure. It certainly got my attention on my recent trip and I was determined to get a photograph. This classic single-pen dwelling also features a shed room across the back side, as is typical of the form. It likely dates to 1890-1920.

Tenant Farmhouse, Coffee County

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I photographed this house in 2013, somewhere between Lax and Douglas. It’s an old single-pen tenant house that had a room added on at some point. The shake roof, peeking out beneath the tin, was what caught my attention. I’d be surprised if it’s still standing, but these places often surprise me.

Tenant Homestead, Circa 1904, Piscola

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Shed

It’s become quite unusual to find tenant properties that retain outbuildings. A shed and privy are still standing on this property, along with the house.

Privy

The house is a classic double-pen form with an added shed room.

Tenant House

Considering the location, these tenants would have been employed in the turpentine and/or timber business.

Winged-Gable Tenant House, Circa 1924, Piscola

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This tenant house was originally a hall and parlor type with a wing added at a later date. It’s actually unusual to find a vernacular tenant house that hasn’t been modified by additions. A resource surveyor noted of the house in 2004, “Building is vacant but replacement roof evident. Facade beginning to deteriorate.” There was also a stock barn on the property when the survey was done.

Gable Front Tenant House, Circa 1909, Piscola

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This tenant house in the Red Hills region has survived amazingly intact for such an isolated setting.

Tenant Farmhouse, Hard Cash

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This single-pen tenant house is typical of the residential dwellings common in the tenant farming and sharecropping era and was related, no doubt, to the Hard Cash community. There were likely a number of these along Hard Cash Road at one time, and this may be the last survivor. While it’s an endangered resource, it’s just more evidence that even utilitarian homes were built better a hundred years ago than they are today.

Single-Pen Tenant Farmhouse, Sumter County

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As someone who’s traveled the backroads of all 159 counties in Georgia pursuing what is left of our historic architecture, I have been amazed at how much has actually vanished in the 16+ years that I’ve been looking for old houses. Finding a gem like this is what still motivates me to hit the road. This house is a perfect example of the vernacular architecture that characterizes our collective rural history and its setting in a pecan orchard, with spring wildflowers blooming in the foreground, takes one back in time, to lives lived around manual labor and hardship, but also of simpler ways. The red paint is a bonus.

Like many single-pen houses, this one has a shed room across the back. One of the great aspects of utilitarian housing, to me, is its ability to evolve to fit the needs of those who call it home. Also notable in this example are the handmade bricks. I’d guess it was built sometime between 1890-1910.