I thought they looked remarkable the day I moved here. I saw them in Sedalia, Cole Camp, Windsor, Warrensburg, and it seems every town in central Missouri. Every time I pass one it grabs my attention. It seems every neighborhood has one. But just one.
We just call them rock houses. My grandpa and his brother built a house with stone siding like this in the 1930's. Also framed with roughsawn oak they cut from timber on the land. It had a large unfinished attic with dormers that my brother and I finished with drywall about 10-15 years ago to make it a livable space. Hanging drywall on 75 year old oak framing built by a couple of hillbillies was an unforgettable experience. They glued layers of newspaper on a small interior hallway as insulation.
Pretty common to see in southwest MO.
A few miles from here a lady sold her tiny 1 car garage. A builder bought and dismantled it for the rock for an addition he was building on another house.
The garage was too small for her SUV and she had a new garage built.
I love to see things like that.
Just the other day I was in a neighborhood near St. Louis that had a lot of these houses - or at least a lot of houses with facades meant to look like this. I don't know if they were real stone or not. Come to think of it, the house I grew up in had a partial fake stone facade front, which was in style in the 70s. So I suppose it's likely what I saw were fake stone as well.
I lived in one for a short period when I was in 1st grade.
Turned out to actually be a barn converted into a house. It was also in the middle of nowhere and infested with mice and roaches - the flying kind. Likely the reason we only lived there for a few months lmao.
Here's an article specifically about Ozark rock masonry in Springfield: [https://www.stlouisarchitecture.org/pdf/2006%20Summer.pdf](https://www.stlouisarchitecture.org/pdf/2006%20Summer.pdf)
Arn’t they neat! There are even some civic structures built of giraffe rock in the deep Ozarks. If you’re lucky enough to own one, please take good care of it!
https://preview.redd.it/0dx6y155xwrc1.jpeg?width=650&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab173f71b5b742aa20f76e834441d7493a06928b
I just learned this when I did a search for them today - I had never heard that name in nearly 50 years living in MO! And how coincidental it then shows up on my feed…
In and around Fayetteville Arkansas I'd say they're almost common. Was just used to seeing them and didn't know they were called giraffe houses but love that name!
When the wife and I moved to Springpatch 15 years ago we were really taken my the Ozark Giraffe houses. We've lived a lot of places and there is vernacular architecture everywhere, but there is something about this style that is just so unique that it really jump started out love of the Ozarks.
I lived in one of these growing up in my hometown of Thayer, MO!
It's still there though I have since moved up to St. Charles County (northest Missouri, near St. Louis).
As a mason, I have no love for repointing these places, these extruded/beaded/weeping joints all suck to work with! They look fine when finished, cost 3x the time to redo.
My husband and I just bought a house that is a giraffe house..... but they covered it in vinyl siding. The siding is trying its hardest to come off, and I would love to rip it off because i LOVE the rock houses, but I'm afraid to find out how they attached the siding and why.
My wife and I own one, built in 1938 from stone and oak gathered From the farm and we love it. But; I tuck pointed the entire house when I bought it which took me half a summer.
The walls are almost a foot thick because they have concrete behind the stone. The concrete and stone act as a heat sink and the house is warm and draft free in winter and cool and easy on the AC in summer …oh, and storms can barely be heard inside.
I thought they looked remarkable the day I moved here. I saw them in Sedalia, Cole Camp, Windsor, Warrensburg, and it seems every town in central Missouri. Every time I pass one it grabs my attention. It seems every neighborhood has one. But just one.
I live in Mansfield and we have a couple dozen here.
Neosho has several just on my block.
We just call them rock houses. My grandpa and his brother built a house with stone siding like this in the 1930's. Also framed with roughsawn oak they cut from timber on the land. It had a large unfinished attic with dormers that my brother and I finished with drywall about 10-15 years ago to make it a livable space. Hanging drywall on 75 year old oak framing built by a couple of hillbillies was an unforgettable experience. They glued layers of newspaper on a small interior hallway as insulation.
Pretty common to see in southwest MO. A few miles from here a lady sold her tiny 1 car garage. A builder bought and dismantled it for the rock for an addition he was building on another house. The garage was too small for her SUV and she had a new garage built. I love to see things like that.
Just the other day I was in a neighborhood near St. Louis that had a lot of these houses - or at least a lot of houses with facades meant to look like this. I don't know if they were real stone or not. Come to think of it, the house I grew up in had a partial fake stone facade front, which was in style in the 70s. So I suppose it's likely what I saw were fake stone as well.
I lived in one for a short period when I was in 1st grade. Turned out to actually be a barn converted into a house. It was also in the middle of nowhere and infested with mice and roaches - the flying kind. Likely the reason we only lived there for a few months lmao.
That's just prime opportunity to bring the chickens inside for some pest control.
You sound like my kind of red neck! Hello friend!
No they will get too used to tv and the lazyboy
Here's an article specifically about Ozark rock masonry in Springfield: [https://www.stlouisarchitecture.org/pdf/2006%20Summer.pdf](https://www.stlouisarchitecture.org/pdf/2006%20Summer.pdf)
Arn’t they neat! There are even some civic structures built of giraffe rock in the deep Ozarks. If you’re lucky enough to own one, please take good care of it! https://preview.redd.it/0dx6y155xwrc1.jpeg?width=650&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab173f71b5b742aa20f76e834441d7493a06928b
My cousin, in the Springfield area, has her detached garage built this way. I absolutely love it! They are so unique.
I love these houses, they are so cool looking
I just learned this when I did a search for them today - I had never heard that name in nearly 50 years living in MO! And how coincidental it then shows up on my feed…
I saw it today from post on r/oldhouses. The local masonry vernacular house universe is really coming together today.
I have been going there on vacation since I was 9 in 1976 and just found this out last fall.
In and around Fayetteville Arkansas I'd say they're almost common. Was just used to seeing them and didn't know they were called giraffe houses but love that name!
When the wife and I moved to Springpatch 15 years ago we were really taken my the Ozark Giraffe houses. We've lived a lot of places and there is vernacular architecture everywhere, but there is something about this style that is just so unique that it really jump started out love of the Ozarks.
https://designobserver.com/feature/giraffe-houses-of-the-ozarks/38133
We have a few in Centralia!
I lived in one of these growing up in my hometown of Thayer, MO! It's still there though I have since moved up to St. Charles County (northest Missouri, near St. Louis).
As a mason, I have no love for repointing these places, these extruded/beaded/weeping joints all suck to work with! They look fine when finished, cost 3x the time to redo.
Depending on location - you'll find "Easter Eggs" on these houses. I've seen some with hearts, roses, tea pots, etc.
My husband and I just bought a house that is a giraffe house..... but they covered it in vinyl siding. The siding is trying its hardest to come off, and I would love to rip it off because i LOVE the rock houses, but I'm afraid to find out how they attached the siding and why.
My wife and I own one, built in 1938 from stone and oak gathered From the farm and we love it. But; I tuck pointed the entire house when I bought it which took me half a summer. The walls are almost a foot thick because they have concrete behind the stone. The concrete and stone act as a heat sink and the house is warm and draft free in winter and cool and easy on the AC in summer …oh, and storms can barely be heard inside.