Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A blast from the past

A very strange thing happened to me today. While waiting in two different doctors offices, and reading two different magazines, I ran across the same subject in each magazine. Do you know what a Quonset hut is?

Both articles talked about elaborate remodeling of Quonset huts to make into beautiful homes. I know what a Quonset hut is and, in fact, I have slept in one.

Quonset huts were built during World War II of corrugated galvanized iron, in a semi-circular cross section. They were used for military storage during the war. After the war, these huts were sold for $1000.

When The Trout was attending Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa, we were friends with a married couple who lived in a Quonset. Since The Trout and I were engaged, I would drive up weekends to see him and would stay with our friends Francis and Rita in this Quonset hut. It was actually very cute. A kitchen-living room (great room kind of), bathroom and two bedrooms. All this was pretty tight quarters, but there was a street very near the university that was all Quonset huts for married student housing.

After The Trout and I were married and he had 6 months left before graduation, we looked for a Quonset hut to live in, but they were all taken. Married students really liked this housing. It was cute, cheap and it worked out just fine. So instead, we found a rather nice upstairs apartment near the university for the 6 months we were there. Happy memories.

4 comments:

  1. Susan, I feel the same way about yurts that you feel about quonset huts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, Mary, I saw a program some years ago about a couple living in a yurt and I thought it was marvelous!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes! My parents had friends who lived in a quonset hut after WWII while he was going to school. I've always wanted to have a real teepee.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My mother was going to buy 2 of those and put them on the property north of town. One was destined to be my father's workshop. Never did happen, I thought it would be too hot for Florida.

    ReplyDelete