Hofmeister House

The Farm House.
                 Helen Speed's house.
                                    Lobaugh's house.

This is the way of small towns.  The collective memory might go back 50 years.  In some cases more. Folks refer to a certain house or farm as the "Old Vaughan Place". 

You know that curve northwest of Creston on Hwy 25?  Kessler's Curve?  How long has it been since a Kessler lived there?  And over to Afton there is a hill called Simpson Hill.  It was called that when I was a kid 60 years ago.  I never, ever knew the Simpsons that lived on that hill.  The only Simpsons I knew lived down to Shannon City. 

Then, my folks used to say they went the way of Robin Hood's barn to get someplace.  What?  What does that mean?  They knew Robin Hood?  Where did he live?  How did he get to Iowa?

Anyway, back to the story at hand.

We have photos of 1503 Rebecca.

We have a photo of our house in Hubbard, Ne.  (We had at PO Box here -- no street address).

We have a pic of the Grocery Store.

There is no photo of the farm house west of Orient.  Dad and I drove by about a year ago and the house was gone.  Bull dozed.  zip, zero, zilch.  There is a short drive way but even the barn or hog shed and outbuildings are gone. 

Helen Speed's House:  I think I have a photo here . . . if I can find it.  Well, here, I have a photo of the side yard with the neighbor children . . . Kathy?  Martha?  and ???  playing with Kristy, Erica and Craig. 

I have photos of  Lobaugh's House

 

 

or of the front porch, anyway. 

The Klinkenfus House - okay, this is the front yard and you should all recognize it as we took several "First Day of School" pics by this magnolia tree.  But I haven't found a pic of the house yet -- but you know which one it is.  The yellow house! 

















oh, are they all so cute? 

Then, the other day I was telling Craig something about the "Klinkenfus House" and he said "no - call it The Hofmeister House".  And I totally agreed.  We should call the house by the Orient School  the "Hofmeister House". 

But Wait.  After thinking about that conversation and After 20 years, maybe the Klinkenfus House should now be the "David's House"?  Oh what is Renee's last name now?  The Stephens' House? 

And when you stop and think about it this, really, is the Hofmeister House.

Isn't it pretty? the house and the grounds? 

 

The Hofmeister House. 

And for those inquiring minds about the origin of "Robin Hood's Barn" . . .

Robin Hood's house was Sherwood Forest; its roof the leaves and branches. His dinner was the king's deer; his wealth the purses of hapless travelers. What need had he of a barn, and how was it laid out if to go around it means, as the use of the phrase implies, a rambling roundabout course? The explanation is simple. He had no barn. His granary, when he had need of one, was the cornfields of the neighborhood. To go around his barn was to make a circuitous route around the neighborhood fields."