Little House Out Back

New Outhouse
August 2012
About two months ago, I spotted this stylish outhouse for sale at an area business. The simple structure was a beauty and a far cry from the outhouse that I remember from my childhood.

The outhouse of my youth was a two-holer and rustic. Located near a large cottonwood tree and about 100 feet from the house, the little house faced a large field to the south. I remember that it always contained spiders and their webs.

The farmhouse had a room designated for a bathroom, but it was not plumbed until I was probably five years old. I don't know exactly when the outhouse was retired, but I do remember "playing school" in the room that eventually became the bathroom in the house.

Update: May 14, 2013

I found a letter, dated March 13, 1957, that my oldest sister wrote to a friend. Obviously, the letter was never sent, but she wrote, "We finally got our bathroom in the house and built a new Grade A barn. We are milking fourteen head and plan to be milking thirty-five head by summer."

Comments

  1. I didn't realize there was still a market for outhouses.

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  2. Now here is my burning question....why two holes? Would you really go to the bathroom with someone? I remember these outhouses well from when I was little...even three holers!! Inquiring minds want to know!

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  3. We have a two holer in the barn! And I remember when we moved in thinking it was so nicely paneled.....better than any woodwork in the house! lol

    We moved into our house the year after the big ice storms here in Maine. The couple we bought the house from were out of power for 14 days, and they pulled their rocking chairs into the kitchen next to the stove, and that's where they stayed the whole time, next to the warm stove. I'm sure the two holer got some use during that storm, too! They were 86 and 92 at the time!

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  4. Super-cute! One babysitter of mine had an outhouse, and I hated it. I didn't mind them at all at camp though...

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  5. Love it! I use them all the time... when camping. This is the cutest I've ever seen.

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  6. We had one at an old farm house we bought in Illinois but it was long out of service when we got there. I'm wondering, like Wool Winder, why two holes (or three). "The family that walks 100 yards to the outhouse together in the middle of the night stays together?" No that's not it! Or maybe that is why, because I would surely enlist someone to go with me into the night!!

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  7. Nice looking outhouse, for sure! I liked hearing a little history about your farm house.

    There was an outhouse behind my dad's grocery store, so it makes me curious as to what year the toilet was plumbed into the store. Anyway, that outhouse came out to my place for the contractors when my place was being built. It has come in handy on a few occasions. However, it is in pretty bad shape at present.

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  8. Oh ugh! I remember outhouses.....yuck, cold, splinters stinking all year long...lol.

    My Grandparents didn't have indoor plumbing until I was in my late teens...

    Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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  9. That's mighty fancy! LOL

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  10. I do not like the idea of outhouses, even if they are pretty. I can hardly tolerate port-a-potty's, I don't think I would have survived in a time that required outhouse use.

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  11. Very nice!! Looks alot nicer than those porta potti's they use :)

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  12. That is a cute outhouse! My aunt and uncle had an outhouse and now indoor plumbing in rural Montana for years. I seem to remember using it into the 70s, but surely they must have had indoor plumbing by then? g

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  13. That looks like the Hilton edition of Outhouses.
    Spiders and buzzing flies..we didn't get an indoor bathroom until I was 8. Lots of memories of an outhouse:)

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