Three room mansion. I was a decade too late.

Per my blog post of May 12, Leon sent me an email with more information about the railroad tie house masquerading as a mansion.  Apparently it was built in the 1950s rather than the 1960s as I guessed.  Here is what Leon said:

Nick,

      In regards to the the three room Mansion at Woodside.  When I was 12 years old, 1954,  Dad and I think Earl and I were going toward Woodside on the Castle Dale road in a one and one half ton stock truck.  I looked out the side when we were in Oil Well Wash and saw someone down in the wash.  Dad stopped and it was James "Shorty" Lanier.  Shorty had taken his family in the family car to see Grandpa Curtis, who had already moved his camp to another location, in Humbug.  Shorty had gotten the car stuck 2 or 3 days previous and was walking out trying to find help.  He had gone down into the wash in hopes of finding a pool of water.

      Dad drove on to Woodside where he had homesteaded 160 acres and left me, and I think a couple or horses, while he, Earl and Shorty went back to Humbug to rescue Shorty's family.  Dad said he had a hard time keeping the children from drinking too much water at once and that when they saw him all they could say was "water, water, water,"  only it was pronounced as a child would say it like "wahtah" or something like that.

      He left me on the side of the hill by the ditch that crosses the road on the way to the house, only back towards Woodside itself.  There was no house.  I think he had made a square ditch to pour the cement into.  This location was anondoned for the present location of the house.  Starting when I was 13, 1955, I spent every summer and most week ends at Woodside and the house was built then.  So it was built between the summer of 1954 and summer of 1955.  The grainery and sheds including chicken coop and all of the corrals were there in the summer of 1955 also.  As you stepped into the house there was a hole in the cement floor and it was said that it was because the cement had frozen when it was laid.  So I assume that the floor was laid that winter sometime.  I don't know this for sure, but I think that Bill Martin helped Dad build the house.  I think sometime after that they had a falling out as Bill Martin never came around anymore after that.

      Verl said that one time after he got his drivers licence he asked Dad if he could go out for the night and Dad said he could go and stay out all night if he wanted, but first thing in the morning they were taking a load of railroad ties to Woodside to start the house.  I think this was when we were living in Carbonville.  Verl got is drivers licence in 1952.  Or at least he turned 16 in 1952.  So that would have been 1953 or 1954

              Leon