There’s a little building behind my parents’ house whose name might confuse some.
We’ve used it as a dog kennel, a chicken house, a storage unit, a garage for horse-drawn vehicles, and, most recently, a junk collector. But we’ve always called it the Ham House.
it’s seen better days.
What’s a Ham House? It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a building that was built for (and briefly used for) hanging and smoking hams.
all those strings hanging from the ceiling were for hams. they never got taken down, even though this building hasn’t been used for hams since the 60’s, I think? also, thirty years of junk piled up in this little building. plus a ‘possum or two.
Back in December I shared that this little house was about to undergo a big, big change–it’s being renovated into a one-bedroom apartment. Such a big leap for this little Ham House! And even though its status on the farm is seriously being elevated through this process, we just can’t stop calling it by its old name. Old habits and all.
Here’s the floorpan my parents created for the building:
We helped clean most of the junk out while we were up for Christmas break (well, Jeremy did–I pulled the pregnancy card and just watched. And took pictures.)
The next step was to tear down part of the front porch to make room for the bump-out addition.
My family moved out to this farm when I was just a little older than Anselm is now. It’s kind of crazy to see the Ham House undergo such a profound change of identity–but also very, very exciting.
I’m just watching to the process from a distance while my parents keep me updated with pictures and things, but I’ll be documenting the process as much as I can here on the blog, so stay tuned!
Jeremy says
Exciting times