TOWNSENDS, ASHMORES, & TARPLEYS

 

ACROSS THE FENCE

By Arvord Abernethy

 

 

With interest rates as they are, one doesn't see much new construction work going on around Hamilton.  I had noticed that repair work was going on at the former Craik Pierson home in the 400 block of South Bell, so I stopped by to see what was happening.

 

The Truett Townsends, along with their children, Rusty and Debbie Payne, have bought the house and they are really giving it a working over.  It will be home of Rusty and Debbie after it is finished.

 

When I walked in Truett was looking for termite damage in the window frame, but he was carefully taking each board out so they could be sanded completely clean and then replaced.

 

I had noticed the fresh lumber in the bookcase and pillar fixture between the living room and the dining room, but thought that they had rebuilt the fixture with new wood just like the old one was in order to keep the old charm of the house.  They had taken each board off carefully sanded it down and then replaced it. The built-in china closet is also being sanded and refinished in the same way.  The beveled plate glass doors in the china closet are in excellent condition.

 

You should see the wood that was used in building that house.  Craik was connected with a lumber yard and must have handpicked every piece as there was not a knot in it.  He later served as manager of Higginbotham Lumber Yard here for a number of years.  The house was probably built around 1920.  

 

One of the first things Truett and Rusty did to the house was to put a new roof on.  Then the house was insulated, new electrical wiring put in, and the plumbing renewed.  It will be repainted inside and out when the work is finished.

 

They are not doing any drastic rearranging of the interior, some doors are being closed up and a hallway made into a large closet.  Another bathroom is being added.   The house has three flues and they plan to reopen one of them and use one of these new type wood stoves to heat the house.  Some good reports are coming from people who are using that type of heater.

 

Truett has gone under the house to check it and found that it is built on concrete blocks around the edge and is setting on large cedar posts under the floor.  Cedar will not rot and termites will not eat it, so that part of the house is very sound.  The skirting which covers the foundation is in excellent condition, being made of cypress wood, a rot resistant wood.

 

We who knew the Craik Pierson family can say that they had a home as sturdy and sound as they were a family. [Mrs. Craik Pierson nee Annie Myrtle Carver was my first music teacher.--Elreeta]

 

Hamilton can put down another mark on the credit side of the ledge as another of our older homes is being redone.  Many of these homes have been redone within the last few years and it has meant much in keeping Hamilton a neat, clean city.

 

  

 

Another piece of improvement work is being done at the Gene Ashmores’ on East White. They are having the house and garage bricked. Their home is practically new, but they got to thinking about the painting costs that would be coming later on and also with utility bills high and getting higher, the brick would make the house warmer in winter and cooler in summer. Bob Jarvis is the contractor and Stanley Jones of Gatesville will lay the brick.

 

 

I had a nice visit with the C.R. Tarpleys at 1003 Kee Dr. and they are also having their home bricked. The Tarpleys moved here from Cisco two years ago and have already done several things around their home. They have enclosed the carport to make it into a garage and then added a storage room to the back of the garage. They have built a patio at the end of the house and enclosed the yard with a chain link fence. When the brick work is completed, they will have a nice, cozy home for their retirement.

 

Mr. Tarpley is a native of Cleburne and she is from Dallas, but they have lived in Lubbock some and he was a flight test instrumentation worker at General Dynamics of Fort Worth for some 20 years.

 

The Tarpleys have two grown sons, four grandchildren and one great grandchild to help fill their retirement years with interest. They attend the Park Heights Church of Christ, and are finding Hamilton a nice, pleasant place in which to live.

 

 

 Shared by Roy Ables