Old House 50

I wanted to have something special for our 50th house, and we stumbled on just that thing yesterday. Normally, we photograph houses from the road, but this time the owner was on the grounds and gave us permission to walk around and take our pictures as we saw fit. It was a lucky break and we appreciate his kindness.
This is an old homestead in Quay, New Mexico that has changed very little since it was built. Perhaps more importantly, it's a modest place. Oftener than not, the smaller ones fall by the wayside.
As you can see, it's a wood house of two rooms, sitting on a foundation of field stones. It's simple, but solid. Such houses were commonly added to, when the money was there, but not this one. "Starved out," said the owner, "they all starved out." Which is all too true, the 160 acre sections provided by the Homestead Act were much too small to be sustainable. The government meant well, they just didn't understand New Mexico.