Taking advantage of a sloping lot, the builder of a c. 1920 bungalow achieved 3 goals simultaneously with concrete block:
- A garage
- A retaining wall
- A level lot
There is a door at the back of the garage which opens to the adjacent sidewalk. A set of steps leads to the house above.
Corners extend beyond the top of the wall and anchor fencing. The corner above the garage door has been rebuilt with smooth-faced block.
A handrail is anchored to the steepest grade. Further down the street, a neighbor’s yard is also framed with concrete block, but the wall’s mortar joints are aligned with the grade rather than being leveled.
Two more images at Montana’s request which have been enlarged. I should have tried to get some photos of the house itself, but didn’t feel like trespassing:
Here you can see that the house is wrapped in vinyl siding except for the enclosed porch. The original narrow clapboards can be seen in the gable there.
A better view of the window. Blue painter’s tape, quite similar in color to the trim paint, remains from the last effort at painting. I’m not sure what to think about that center vent… original or not? It doesn’t really look original, but almost too tidy for an alteration. The porch enclosure itself leaves questions as well…
I think what’s most remarkable about this, is that it appears to be still mostly plumb! Too often, these small earth-retaining walls and similar structures are built with little, if any, consideration of the earth pressure or hydrostatic (water) loads on them.
I see the dry-stacked block walls people build themselves leaning and collapsed quite frequently.
This is located in southwestern Nebraska which gets much less precipitation than the eastern part of the state. Built elsewhere, it may not have fared so well. Even so, it’s plumbness is still remarkable!
and it made some pretty useless land into a nice level buildable house lot. the house is pretty interesting esp that odd shaped wi ndow in the peak. you can include more pictures. your loyal followers don’t mind.
I don’t have any different photos of this house, but I did enlarge portions of one to show the window better; they follow the photos above.
this house seems to combine elements that make it hard to classify and given the build date perhaps the builder was just a fan of Prairie, Craftsman, bungalow and Arts and crafts.
the concrete block also means he didn’t have to waste space on a small lot for a driveway or have a garage monopolize the architecture as is popular these days. I too am surprised it’s stayed so plumb but we were smarter then.
as an aside, I came across a tiny house video on YouTube called “what if a Swiss army knife was a house and another called “Zip tie dome – check them out – fascinating stuff.