Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century

Historic Herdsmans' House Gets a Makeover

Something old—the circa 1929 Herdsman’s House—has become new again, through the efforts and support of a variety of College of Ag friends.

Built in late 1920s, the Herdsman’s House is located at Ag Heritage Park on Samford Avenue in Auburn and is one of three houses that originally stood on a site across the street from where the AU Athletic Complex now stands.  The houses were once residences for personnel who tended the Auburn University cattle herd (dairy and/or bull test) and ran the dairy.

The house was vacated in 2002 and renovations began on the five-room building, which included a new roof and windows, removal of carpet, floor refinishing and repainting of the interior and exterior. The second phase of remodeling began in August 2004. Thanks to generous gifts from Kay Beaty and Mr. and Mrs. Farmer Meadows, work included extensive kitchen renovations, interior repainting and updating of the restroom to meet American Disabilities Act requirements. An exterior ramp at the back of the house was also added.

In the summer of 2007, work began to furnish the house with antiques and accessories from the 1930s era. The catalyst for this phase of the Herdsman’s House restoration was another generous gift from the Meadows. Through this funding and the help of several individuals, antique dealers and donors, the house has been outfitted with vintage furnishings from the period in which it was constructed.  Marianne Jensen of Auburn helped coordinate the antique collection and placement.

The house now serves as a mini-museum and historical site for the AU’s College of Agriculture and is used for meetings and social events.  It also was on the 2007 Auburn Preservation League Christmas Tour of Homes.

Included in the house’s furnishing are antique tables, desks, chairs and bookcases as well as original papers from a Tallapoosa County farmer’s family collection, items from the Johnson Farm Tool Collection, a 1940s floor-model radio and a number of agriculture-related books and print blocks.

Accessories include many domestic items, from an oak hand-crank, wall-mount telephone to a maiden yoke once used for carrying water; from a Jiffy ice-cream mixer to cookbooks published in the 1930s to 1950s by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. 

All this was made possible by many contributions of time and money.

The Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station’s Office of Land and Resource Management helped with construction projects, Marianne and John Jensen helped ensure the house was furnished with authentic pieces, Lane Sauser and Kelley Terry offered valuable suggestions, Rebecca Cox photographed the rooms for a coffee table book about the house, and several local antique dealers and in-kind donors also shared their time and resources.