It's Too Bad More Houses Aren't Built Like This...

 You may be asking, "What do you mean, they don't build houses like this anymore?" I mean, it's a picture of a normal-looking house. You can find a similar house all across the country. It's got four bedrooms, two and one-half bath house, no basement, master suite and laundry on the main floor.

Like I said, a basic house.

But the house itself isn't unusual...the manner in which it was built is. You see, it was built by students. Too bad more houses aren't built like this.

I didn't know many of my dad's siblings. It's tough when most were born before 1925. My dad was number nine of twelve children, three were born after him. Of the twelve, I remember half a dozen, but I remember the last two of the twelve the best. My dad was a builder, among other things. He designed and built our family home. Too bad he didn't get to see it finished. 

His younger brother Jack also built houses. I don't know where they learned it, but they did. And the youngest of the family--the baby--went into public education. He retired years ago, but one thing he did was take high school students and taught them how to build a house.

So cool.

I wish they still taught that in high school.

Maybe they still do. Maybe somewhere out there they realize the importance of learning such a skill at an early age. If they do, those students are lucky.

The house in the picture was built by the students at Bridgerland Technical College. My son was one of those students. He graduated last week. Before the graduation ceremony we toured the house and we snapped a couple of pictures of things he actually worked on, door frames and tile, among others.

It's too bad more houses aren't built like that one. It's a great skill to learn.