Big Daddy's House

My brother, Kirk, does amazing things with his hands.  This past spring, he created a replica - shown above - of the house affectionately called Big Daddy's.  Built in 1944-45 to replace an older, pioneer structure, it was the home of Hugh and Dee Sloan Pennington in their later years although Dee died in September 1945 and did not get to enjoy her new home very long.  The old homeplace was part of the Jackson Sloan estate, and when the land was divided following Jack's death, Dee Sloan Pennington "drew" her lot, getting the original dogtrot house and surrounding acreage.  Unfortunately, termite damage to the roof and foundation resulted in taking down the 1945 home a few years ago but the chimney still remains to remind future generations of the heritage of the place.

Below is a photograph of Big Daddy's house as it looked during the 1980's.   My husband and I lived in the house during the summers of 1976 and 1977, back when the "bathroom facilities" consisted of an outhouse along with an outdoor shower stall consisting of a water hose from the kitchen sink and a metal bucket punched with holes.  Luckily, we had a window air conditioning unit to keep us cool from the record-breaking heat those summers.

Didn't Kirk do a great job replicating the house, down to the windows, shutters, porch and steps!?!   Lots of good memories were created here - Sunday dinners in the early days followed by a long period of non-use after Big Daddy died.  Later, the homeplace was the site of Easter egg hunts and New Year's Eve celebrations and many, many rook games. The bottom photo is of Aunt Vivian sitting on the front porch steps during the early 1950's, probably at a Sunday get-together.