1. Building of the Taylor House
Surviving and Finding a Way to
Thrive Through the Great
Depression

2. • Ken Taylor and Ida Fee, in their teens,
one year before they married.

3. The Taylors in front of their new two
bedroom, one toilet house. This was
around 1932.

4. • Granddad Taylor built this house from the
leftover cedar wood he took home from
work, after building Warner Brother’s
movie sets.
• When they moved in there were only two
rooms, a toilet and the kitchen.
• Grandad’s brother and brother in law
installed the plumbing and electrical wires.

5. • Throughout my grandmother’s childhood
Grandad Taylor would build another room
after he had saved up enough wood from
work. By the time I was born this is what
the house looked like.

6. • The space just inside the doorway, was
originally an enclosed, outdoor porch with
a washboard washing machine. Now it
has a washing machine and dryer
connected to the kitchen.

7. • The door to the left opens into Grandma
and Grandad’s bedroom, which was
added when my grandmother was a
teenager. Their old room became the den.

8. After building his and Grandma’s bedroom,
Grandad converted the attic into two bedrooms for
my grandmother and her three siblings to share.
• The rooms were accessed by holding a
rope attached to the wall and climbing up
a steep, thick, wooden ladder.
• They were my playrooms as a child. The
ladder and rope have since been replaced
by a steep staircase and banister.
• There was also a beautiful garden in the
backyard with flowers and fruit trees.

9. • There was a bird bath, and I think there
was also a shallow pond, with shiny balls
in it to the right just beyond the bench. As
a child I used to feel like this was an
enchanted garden.

10. • This outdoor barbeque, used during family
gatherings, was equipped with a sink, fire
pit for burning trash and grill for cooking.

11. • Roofs are not made like this anymore.
According to my uncle it has never leaked
or needed to be replaced. It also has two
coats of fire retardant on it.

12. • Old age made it difficult to maintain the
house. Now my uncle and his family live in
it, and it is their turn to remodel it with a
new style.

13. • When I visited, Grandma gave me graham
crackers with jelly and cocoa or tea and cookies
during tea time and let me help wash dishes.
• I loved to sit on Grandad’s lap and play with his
copper bracelet. He said he wore it because it
prevented cancer.