The History of a House

It was spring of 1917 when Will and Elirta Knutz and their two little boys moved to their farm southwest of Huron, South Dakota, on the Virgil Road.  Many things happened on that farm - most notably it was where their son Bill met the love of his life, Lillian Christensen, who lived on a farm around the corner.  The Knutz family moved to the farm in March and were able to purchase it in June - a big step for the young family.  

Life must have been lonely - busy, but lonely - for Virta.  But it was under these circumstances that her creativity came out.  She wrote about her life, the events she witnessed, and her children.  She drew pencil sketches as well which recorded their family's history.  And that leads us to the history of this house.  Their home.  Their dream, and the death of that dream exactly eight years later.

Above is a sketch of the house, done by Virta, and unfortunately undated.  This, along with sketches of their other homes were done on the back pages of an autograph album with the earliest entry in 1909.  The last of the house sketches was from their home in 1928-1929, and since there was an end date on that sketch, I'm inclined to believe it was done after they had moved on.  There are no sketches after that.

Above, Virta is pictured in their neat, tidy home with her two sons, Howard (left) and Bill (then called "Willie.") In this photo, she would have been pregnant with their third child, Richard. 

Above, Virta with Howard and Bill.

Below, Will enjoys a quiet evening with his sons.

The 1920s had set the stage for what was to come in the Great Depression.  Volatile farm prices, drought, locus infiltrations... it all took its toll.  In March of 1925, Will and Virta lost their farm and the life they'd built there.  After that, they lived in a series of rented farms throughout the area.

In the early 2000s, I was in Huron and decided to look for the old house that was such an important part of their lives.  It sat back off the road quite aways, the path to it overgrown with weeds and heavy brush.  The beautiful trees that once provided the family with welcome shade were overgrown and half-dead, almost hiding the structure behind them.  The house itself was rife with rotting wood and unstable flooring, the door partially off its hinges, the interior hit hard by vandals.  I stepped inside and took a look around and noted the small size of the front room compared to what we're used to today.  By the time the Knutz family was forced to move to another farm, they were a family of six and imagining them in that space was a little overwhelming.  Yes, it was small - but it was theirs.  Until it wasn't.

Above - the Knutz farm as it was in the early 2000s.

In walking away from the deteriorating house and taking one long look back, I could almost see Virta's pretty curtains in the windows, with her standing there waving goodbye as was her habit when her visitors left.  

While losing their farm on the Virgil Road must have been devastating, and the hard situation of having to move to several new, rented farms in the next few years, the story does have a happy ending.  In 1929 they were able to buy a new farm fairly close to their old neighbors and friends.  While times were still financially challenging through the Depression, they were able to keep their until they retired in 1958 and moved to town.