Most of you know about outhouses. Some of you have probably even used one at one point in your life. I’m not talking about the port-a-potty johns at the county fair either, I’m talking about the real life wooden structures with a bench seat inside.
I’m sure you’re familiar with how these contraptions work; you dig a hole and place your little house over the hole. When said hole is full, you dig another one someplace else, move the house and throw dirt over the almost full former sewage hole. That is why outhouses were portable.
Well folks, the lady who designed my house (Leona Baer), had a different idea for her privvies. You see, she did not want her elite socialite friends and distinguished guests to have to trapise out into the elements to use the outhouse. Oh no, that would be a disgrace. She insisted that her privvies be attached to the house and under a covered walkway (aka porch). And, of course, there had to be a mens and a ladies facility. No co-ed for Ms. Leona Baer. No sirree.
Notice that the ladies side is much bigger than the mens? That’s because ladies wore hoop skirts and needed more room to negotiate around and get everything settled into place. Imagine trying to use the facilities shown above wearing this:
Now, having your outhouse attached to your house is certainly convenient, but it created a huge problem: what to do when the holes got full. Well, obviously, you clean them out. Say what? Shovel s$%@? I know. Right? Who is God’s name wants that job? But, shovel s$%@ someone did. You see, Leona had workers dig a pit, a cistern if you will, and covered it with a permanent structure that sat very close to the house (not completely attached) but connected by an extension of the porch. She really created a very primative septic system, minus the leach lines.
Here’s a picture of the downstairs portion of this structure. This shot is taken from the farthest end of the porch where the men’s privy was (the door on the left) looking back toward the back door of the house on the first floor.
But, wait, there’s more.
If you will remember, the title of this blog mentioned a 2-story, 4-hole outhouse. Two stories? Yes, my friends – two stories. One hole on the ground level and one hole above it on the second story. Here’s how my second story porch looks. The privvies are through that little doorway at the end of the porch.
Notice the white lattice work at the end of the porch? Well, that would be the enclosure. You can see the 2 doorways at the very end of the hallway.
Here’s what it looks like from afar. The privvies are enclosed by that white lattice on both floors.
How do these things work you ask? Well, on level one of the house, a person walks in about 2 feet and encounters the hole. On the second level, a person walks in about 4 feet before encountering the hole. Now, mind you, there is a wall directly behind the hole on the ground level so nothing falls down upon you from above, but you can hear everything directly behind your head that falls from above. I know . . . how pleasant.
Why two stories? Well, thank you for asking. You see, Ms. Baer felt that her family should not mix and mingle with her esteemed guests, so much so that the children and servants were relegated to the second floor. But not just during parties or social events. Oh no. No, no, no. Children had to remain upstairs ALL THE TIME. They were never allowed downstairs. They even have their own set of outside stairs in the event they needed to leave the house. They were not allowed to enter or exit the home through the first floor. There had to have been a lot of this going on:
Not being allowed downstairs created a problem when little Sarah, or little Samuel had to use the facilities. So, Leona fixed the problem by creating their very own privvies on the second floor. The added bonus? If Leona needed to use the bathroom during the middle of the night, she did not have to go all the way downstairs and outside, she simply walked along the upstairs porch to her own private penthouse privy.
Now this structure, that is original to the home, is still standing and part of our house. Of course we don’t use it, but it’s here for everyone to see and admire. The downstairs portion has been repurposed into a very nice, very modern bathroom as part of room number 8, but the original outside doors are still in place. The privy doors are on the left in this picture and the door into room number 8 is on the right.
So tell me dear readers, have you ever seen a 2-story outhouse? Would you have wanted to have the job of cleaning out the poop cistern? Somebody had to do it. Yuck.
Word of the Day: Odurate
Fun fact about me: My uncle had a cabin in upstate Minnesota with no indoor plumbing and we had to use the outhouse whenever we visited. Good times.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, November 2015. Original photos by P. Rickrode. Stock photos courtesy Google Images.
Very cool! Leona was ahead of her time. I cannot imagine navigating a privy in hoop skirts!
I suppose if you paid someone enough, they’d be willing to clean out the cistern from time to time. But not me! Thanks for posting. 😉
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I thought you might enjoy this post Kathy. Perhaps Miss Cordelia visited (or may visit) one of these interesting privvies in her adventures. Remember, you heard it here first.
As always, thanks for your support. Happy Cyber Monday!
Patricia
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Wow, I’ve been waiting for this post to satisfy my curiosity and it was well worth the wait. Your home is amazing and I do hope to visit one day. 🙂
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I hope you visit too Miss Prudence. I’d love to give you the in depth tour.
And, stay tuned for progress on the rhubarb project next summer. The seeds are awaiting planting.
Patricia
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OMG. This is a perfect example of how truth is stranger than fiction. However, I do suppose that if you had a choice of walking out to some far off outhouse in your hoop skirt and petticoats on a rainy day, the porch one would seem much more refined. I’m so glad to be born after the invention of modern plumbing!
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You and me both Suzanne. Mrs. Baer was a very interesting and colorful character. I’m going to try to post some more information next year. This house is full of interesting stuff.
Thanks for stopping by.
Patricia
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All I can say is thank God for modern plumbing! However, if I must use an outhouse, it was quite thoughtful of Mrs. Baer to have a porch. Nothing worse than walking out to the privvy in the rain or snow. In the middle of night.
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Or in a hoop skirt, huh? Leona really was a very forward-thinking woman. At the time people thought she was crazy, but look at us now.
Happy post-Thanksgiving.
Patricia
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Never heard of a two-story outhouse — cool! But it wouldn’t be cool to be in the house when the wind was blowing a certain way… I always figured there were reasons privvies were located a distance away!
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Well, yes, that was another reason. In the heat of the summer one would not want to have their privvy too cose to the house. I guess the scoopers must have cleaned every day.
And can you imagine being in the downstairs facility and have someone doing their business upstairs at the same time? All of that “stuff” would be falling down behind the wall behind you. How nice must that have been?
I always laugh at the looks on our guests faces when I talk about the outhouse. It’s certainly a conversation piece.
Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great week.
Patricia
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That there’s a damn fancy pooper!
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Well, Phil, nothing but the best for Leona. If you ever get to Vicksburg, be sure to stop by and I’ll give you the grand tour.
Patricia
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Patricia, this is an amazing post and by far one of the most fun and interesting to read. What an amazing place you own. I bet the history is amazing and I hope you keep on sharing. Am loving these posts. 🙂
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Oh Paisley, I’ll be sharing and sharing and sharing. We are having a blast in this old house. Stay tuned.
So nice to see your pretty face. Have a great week.
Patricia
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Well, actually, I have seen a two story privy. In Salzberg, Austria. In the altstadt, across from our hotel, sits a fortress on the hill above. It was the King’s wish to have an indoor privy, so he had one added on to the outside wall of the upper chamber. It even had a toilet seat. Ah, gotta love modern plumbing my friend. That’s quite a home you’ve got. And with an attached privy. Priceless. 😊
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Thanks Karen. It is a pretty amazing house. And, I’m guessing only Leona Baer and a King would need a two-story outhouse.
Have a fantastic week.
Patricia
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Will wonders never cease? I’m so intrigued with your adventures at Baer House and hope I can come stay one day! Thank you for all these stories…I love historical houses.
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Well, Debra, I also hope that you can one day visit. This old house is really interesting and there’s lots of fun stories about past owners. The outhouse is a very unique feature to this house.
Good to see you. Take care.
Patricia
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Wow, a two level outhouse is ingenious! We have an outhouse. My DH had to build one so that I’d have somewhere to go while we built the house on the acreage. To this day, when the men are working outside, they use the outdoor facility instead of coming into the house. My DH keeps it clean. I don’t go in there except to get the snow shovel in the winter. 🙂
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Wow – someone who still uses an outhouse? How rare!
Yes, we have a super delux model here at The Baer House. No one uses ours though. And for sure, no one’s going to go down there and clean out the cistern if it were still operational.
Thanks for sharing your story. How cool.
Patricia
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My great grandmother kinda experienced a 2 story outhouse when she fell through the floor of her outhouse. Yuck.
I couldn’t find a definition for odurate, BUT it sounds exactly perfect for this post. Thankfully there’s no smell-o-vision. 🙂
Loving these posts about your new place!
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Fascinating! I’m speechless!
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[…] – You want to see my outhouse? (See this post https://jansenschmidt.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/a-peek-at-my-rare-2-story-4-hole-outhouse/ for more details in case you missed it […]
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I did use a two-story outhouse once at a summer camp. It was in the San Juan islands in Washington, where I live. I had to use the lower story while a counselor was using the upper story. I heard everything. She wasn’t just peeing, either. Very gross.
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Gross indeed. I’ve often thought that as sophisticated as Ms. Baer must have been, that kind of thing would have been unacceptable, but I guess you did what you had to do. I’m sure she probably never used the first floor facility so that was probably not an issue for her.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing. What a nice way to add to the story.
Patricia
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Hmm, that’s a good point. But I can’t imagine a sophisticated person would want to use the upper level either – it would be pretty embarrassing if someone on the lower level heard you. I know my counselor turned bright red when she saw me come out of the lower bathroom and realized I must’ve heard everything. But maybe people were less easily embarrassed back then.
Thanks for responding, and I’m glad you liked my story.
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