Long before it became fashionable and trendy, living on a small scale was quite common.  In most towns and cities, the earliest houses were built on a modest and utilitarian scale.  Many such structures, particularly those of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, were destroyed long ago.  A few examples have survived, usually when they were absorbed into a larger house as the result of numerous additions.  Most did not survive, however, because their locations typically became prime commercial real estate.

Such is the case with this small house.  Though only a hundred years old, the house is similar in size and scale to many of its earlier counterparts.  This house is unusual in that it appears to have a full basement.  Sadly, its days are likely numbered because it sits on a busy street in Wray, Colorado, a scenic town experiencing growth.  I drove by recently and noticed that both it and its larger next-door neighbor are now empty and neglected.  It is now only a matter of time before both are demolished and replaced with some commercial establishment.  Hopefully someone desirous of a tiny house will have this one moved, but that is probably too much to hope for.

 

One room wide and two rooms deep, this small house was built for utility and shaped more by financial constraints than the desire to be fashionable.

 

The front gable, single window and door evoke the minimalist facade so frequently drawn by children when asked to draw “home”. Someone clearly loved this house; the whimsical rabbit remains as evidence.

 

Goodbye.

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