Box and Strip House

A ranch wife refused to move West with her husband until he promised to build her a frame house above ground.

She told him, “I will not have dirt over my head until I die.”

So he built her a box-and-strip house, which may or may not have made her happy. Although economical, these houses had no insulation. The walls moved in and out during a strong wind. In a snowstorm, streaks of snow that corresponded with the cracks in the wall formed on bed quilts.

Even at the turn of the century, wood was difficult to obtain in West Texas, but the railroads stretched into the isolated ranch country. With them came lumber. The box and strip house became a popular type of construction. It involved laying a wood floor, then attaching a box-like frame on the floor and placing one upright in each of the corners. Then 1-by-12-inch boards were nailed vertically to the frame. Thin, 1-by-4-inch wooden strips were nailed over the gaps where the uprights touched. Once the walls were in place, a shingle roof was added, and the house was ready for occupants.

In 1903, Charles Adams Goldsmith, a former hand on C.C. Slaughter’s Long S Ranch, needed a south camp for his 65-section Goldsmith Ranch. He hired a carpenter named Boswell to build a two-room structure. From 1903 to 1907, E.W. “Shorty” Clark lived in the house. When he left the ranch in 1907, Goldsmith had the kitchen, dining room and cistern constructed. During the winter months, the rancher assigned as many as 18 hands to the South Camp.

Box and strip houses served as a connection between dugouts and more traditional architectural designs. Box and strip houses were attractive because they were economical to build, required little maintenance and were above ground. Additional rooms could easily be built, as suggested by Goldsmith having the house enlarged in 1907. The box and strip house located at the NRHC was lived in until the 1950s, proving the simple house’s durability.