Saturday, July 30, 2016

Historical Tour

Driving  in to our little mountain town from the south, you pass a cabin that you probably would only give a glance.
It is not one of the new show places, or one of the cute remodeled cabins, but sixty six years ago, in 1950, it was a show place. At that time it included twelve acres, a coral (which I showed on fence day),  a caretakers cabin all right on the banks of the river,
and it had all of the latest home appliances, including this town's first dishwasher.
It was owned by a Texas Oil Company, that flew their private plane in, usually full of the who's who of the state of Texas, including two Texas Governors, and then Senator, Lyndon Baines Johnson who  later became a U.S. President.
All sorts lot of entertaining was going on, including trail rides, jeep tours, trout fishing, dancing at the Crystal Lodge, and gambling.
I am not sure but the lady fourth from the left,  looks like Lady Bird Johnson to me.
Yes, I said gambling. The basement of the house had a big bar, poker tables and slot machines.
If you will look by the head of the lady on the left (which is Grace, lady of the house),you will see they also had a slot machine in the living room.

 Before we went in, my co-hart Grant who is President of the Historical Society, and our Newspaper Editor told us several interesting stories about this property. He is a gifted story teller...as you can see everyone is hanging on his every word.


Even with different owners the house hasn't changed much over the years. It has a huge living room 30'x37',
a large fireplace, and floor to ceiling windows on the south side looking out at the river. Sorry, I was helping with the tour and didn't get a picture.

The kitchen hasn't changed much either, and is quite large with knotty pine cabinets. The fluorescent lightening was the newest type of light fixture of the time.
This pink tile bathroom screamed 1950 to me
as did this chair.
Come back tomorrow and I will show the second house on the tour.


9 comments:

  1. Sometimes the most unassuming homes can have the most interesting history Janey.

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  2. Sometimes the most unassuming homes can have the most interesting history Janey.

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  4. It would be fun to rent it and renovate it; there certainly is enough room. How about that DC3!?

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    1. Yes Kate, I noticed that right away. I feel sure that both of us are checked out on that piece of equipment.

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  5. Quite a lot of history. I do like the look of the place!

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  6. They knew how to enjoy themselves, so nice to have a look inside.

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  7. Dearest Janey,
    Wow, for sure the floor to ceiling windows on the river side must have been the biggest draw for this location!
    It clearly was during the time of cigarettes being high fashion; looking at that 'pose' by Grace.
    How times can change in every way.
    But isn't it wonderful that they managed to preserve the original setting? Loved this tour.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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