A two-room house, i.e., two single pens joined gable-to-gable with a chimney at either end
EVOLUTION
New room added to gable end wall opposite chimney of first pen
Second room usually of wood (but not log) construction
Other double pen houses originally built as two room homes (one long log rectangle subdivided by log partition wall notched into the front and back walls)
DISTRIBUTION
Occurs sporadically across North Louisiana
Also found along Mississippi and Red rivers (see below)
Considered a minority type; always present but never dominant; not very popular in Louisiana
Most common as plantation quarters houses along the Mississippi and Red rivers
Usually had a front door in each pen; also doors in rear walls
Common wall, made of logs or boards, sometimes had door connecting the two rooms
Size ranged from 16 by 32 feet to 16 by 36 feet
Usually had a front gallery and rear shed roof rooms
Two rooms sometimes shared a common sleeping loft
Floor laid anywhere from one to three feet above the ground
Many houses lacked ceilings
Windows often lacked glass; instead, shutters closed over the window openings
Interior very dark because windows were small and wooden walls absorbed light
Furnishings generally crude homemade beds, tables, benches, and perhaps a chair or two. Pegs for hanging things usually abounded
Very crowded; several people living in two rooms. However, crowding was the norm for the era and people apparently did not feel greatly inconvenienced by it
EXAMPLES
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