CULTURAL HISTORY MUSEUM ARCHITECTURE ROOM
Red Cross House Case
- Red Cross Houses and their Construction -
These pages by Jerry Wilkinson
Page 1
After the 1935 Hurricane the American Red Cross
and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) constructed 29 concrete
homes for residents who owned property and lost their homes in the hurricane.
The residents had to own the real estate in their names.
There were one, two, three and four bedroom houses.
The appearance was the same except the more the bedrooms, the longer the
house. They were configured differently inside, but the width were the
same. The side the front porch was on varied, but was the same size.
The lower section is a water cistern divided into
two side-by-side compartments. Each side could be isolated for cleaning.
The walls, floors, partitions and roof were reinforced concrete. See page
2 for construction.
Above can be seen the effects of the salt water
concrete and the steel reinforcement bar. Rusting caused the "spauling"
of the concrete.
The outside walls are 12 inches thick and easily
reparable. Above is a Red Cross home on the beach in Islamorada that has
been repaired and modified (Note the front windows, etc.) Let's go and
build a Red Cross house with these photos in mind.
Continued on Page 2
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