The Haitz Family House

My great grandparent's house, when my grandfather and his brothers and sisters were young, was on Stevenson Road behind the farm.  By the time I was a child, they no longer lived in that house, but had moved to a smaller one that was adjacent to the farm land on Highway 52.  The year my father served in Vietnam and my mother, brother and I lived in Ripley, my grandfather refurbished the old house for him and his wife.  

The house was a fairly big one, but it always made me wonder just how my great grandparents raised sixteen children in it!  I'm not sure there is any house big enough for that!  My grandfather did not change the basic structure of the building other than adding an extension that held a modern kitchen and den.  The original part of the house had several rooms downstairs with a dark, cool walk-in pantry that held home- canned goods.  The staircase led to several bedrooms and a bath upstairs.  I wish I could have seen it before the remodeling.  

Outside, a tree shaded creek ran in front of the house on its way to the Ohio River.  Crawdads and small snakes hid under the water-smoothed rocks waiting for children to find them.  Behind the house, cows roamed on the hill before heading to the barn to eat their evening meal of hay.   The hill was where my grandfather hunted for squirrels and rabbits.  It also provided the family Christmas tree.  

The house is still standing today and the outside looks much as it did when my great-grandparents lived in it.  The photograph shows part of the front of the house.  I do not know who the women are or the child on the porch.