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Walnut Hill: SchoolCracker homes were built out in the open, in a place cleared of any trees and underbrush, for far that fire from frequent lighting srikes in the tall pine tops might wipe out homesteading efforts. The common preference was to build high up off the damp ground on piers formed of wedge-shaped heart pine or cypress. Cracker homesteaders oriented their houses on a north-south axis. This 90-degree rotation had to do with maximizing the solar impact on all three sunny sides: east, south and west. Such a tactic helped to keep the log walls dry. Placement of the fireplace and chimney in the north gable end would help keep that fourth sunless wall dry as well. Tied together by porches and overhangs, the homestead took on proud, dynamic proportions as the Cracker famil settled in, satisfied and self-assured in its productive parnership with nature. (Source: Haase, Ronald W. "Classic Cracker: Florida's Wood-Frame Vernacular Architecture". ISBN 1-56164-013-1.)
The structure sits on the edge of a cotton field. The hand hewn pine logs are notched in a typical fashion for rural structures built before Victorian balloon-frame construction.The large porches surrounding the single-pen structure kept it shaded in the summer and provided extended work space. taken by Denise Daughtry
The singular room for living is is a rectangle roughtly 15 feet wide and 20 feet long. A 10-foot-wide porch extends around two sides of the house with a doorway in each of these two sides. taken by Denise Daughtry
Shady porches front and back were the major distinction between this single-pen Cracker cabin and a more primitive Seminole Chickee. taken by Denise Daughtry
The corner of the building shows square-hewn log construction with dove-tail notching. taken by Denise Daughtry
An extensive corn field lies to the north of the log cabin. taken by Denise Daughtry
The corn crop will be used for silage to feed dairy cattle. taken by Denise Daughtry
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