Look A Shotgun!

 No this is not a post about guns. It’s about a tiny house before tiny houses were popular. Late in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Shotgun Houses were being built all across the southern U.S.

Especially in New Orleans where this little Victorian doll has been renovated.

...and no, I am not in New Orleans. It was such a pretty day that Tom and I got out of the neighborhood and drove into town. Sounds like a long way, but we are only talking about three miles. We were driving around in an area that they call the Near Southside, a somewhat industrial area with old warehouses and crumbling homes. Like many cities though, that is changing. New businesses, condos and restaurants are sprouting up everywhere. That's when I spotted them... two Shotgun Houses. Looks like their days are numbered and it’s a shame. More and more of these little pieces of history are being wiped off of the map. 

Here is a floor plan of a shotgun house. They are only about 12 ft. wide since lots were small back then. There was usually a small porch, a living room or parlor with a bedroom behind (maybe two) and a kitchen. Rooms were in a direct line even the doorways. There was no hallway. You simply walked through each room to get to the next.This plan shows a bathroom but the original shotguns didn’t have one..

 The doorways being lined up helped push the breeze all the way through the house.

I might add that they also had tall ceilings (most 12ft.). 

I did find an advertisement here in Ft. Worth were you can stay in one of these houses.  

It’s called a twin because they also own the one next door and will soon be renovating it. 

 

 

I wonder if it too will be blue?

Oh and why are they called  Shotgun Houses? 

Well, if you opened the front door and shot a shotgun, the bullets would simply go straight out the backdoor without hitting anything...hopefully!