In Great Bend, Kansas, post World War II, many houses were built like this in my home town. There were entire residential blocks of "Basement Houses" in my neighborhood. When my dad returned home from WWII, he and my mother lived in a rental house at 1100 Stone St. in Great Bend, but the landlady did not allow children. So shortly after we were born in November, 1947, Dad purchased this corner lot at 22nd and Jefferson St. and had a basement house constructed for us by a builder named Brooks. You can see on his handwritten note that it was finished in 1948.
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| Ruby, Ernest, Dennis and Becky Margheim, 1948 |
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My uncle (Dad's brother) Leonard Margheim is
shown here with Dad, Becky and Dennis. |
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| John L. Margheim (1900-1978) is a proud Grandpa. |
Taken in 1949, this photo shows our mother Ruby Nadine (Flanders) Margheim on the porch with me and Dennis.
This was the last summer we lived in this basement house with both of our parents. I'll write more about that in my next story.
Since I have several photographs of us wearing those little denim jackets, I'm posting a few here.
3 comments:
During the 1960s we had a house in the country and some neighbors who farmed lived in a basement house for years.
Thanks for sharing your story and pictures of your home. I have never heard of basement houses.
I've never heard of a basement house either---very interesting!
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