A 20TH CENTURY COMPLEX—IN THE CITY
When the J. E. Peters house and auxiliary buildings were built in the late 1920’s and 1930’s, the site was on the southern limits of the city of Monroe, but it subsequently was included within the city boundaries. Thus, today a unique rural atmosphere exists within an urban context.
The complex depicted in figures [57] through [60] contains a two story house, garage apartment, storage or quarters building and a pair of water storage tanks.
The two story house, [figure 57], contains four rooms over four rooms and a stair and bath facilities. The one story gallery on the front and side provides ample opportunity for relaxation and relief from the heat of the interior rooms in the summer. Note the absence of a chimney; winter heating would have been provided by the newly discovered natural gas.
Fig. 57. The drawings on these pages are of the same site in south Monroe, the Peters house (Bldg. 126).
In the rear of the Peters house is a 1930’s garage apartment, [figure 58]. This element is a unique feature in the history of urban residential architecture. The automobile became obtainable by the urban family during the second decade of the 20th century, and it was sheltered in a structure separate from the residence. The garage would usually provide shelter for one to two automobiles.
Fig. 58. A garage apartment adjacent to the house. (Bldg. 126).
Often an apartment would be placed above the garage, as shown. Note the exterior access stairway. In post World War II residences the automobile would be sheltered in a garage attached to the main residence; subsequently this garage would relinquish its walls and doors and be known as a “carport.” Thus, the garage apartment holds a unique place in America domestic architecture.
The Peters store house, or quarters, [figure 59], also was representative of the era described. This building has exposed rafter ends, five panel doors, milled (not brick) siding, and is raised three steps above the ground.
Fig. 59. The storage building in the rear (Bldg. 126).
The water towers shown in [figure 60] are elevated to provide gravity pressure for water needed on the farm complex, whether for irrigation or livestock or domestic use. The towers are situated in a grove of pecan trees.
Fig. 60. Water tanks on the farm site (Bldg. 126).
As urbanization increased, the opportunity for complexes such as this to survive decreased. Holdings were subdivided into residential lots, and the rural feeling and inherent privacy which it provided yielded to an environment of urban compactness. This is the price of progress as a city expands.