The Big House

Memory has always been a mystery to me; how much do we actually remember from our childhood and how much do we think we remember but actually just heard our parents talk about?

My time growing up at Lake Lottawana brings back precious memories. Some of those are recalled in my essay “The Little House.” When my father became more successful, he decided to build a house up on the hill that we always called “The Big House.” Unlike the little house he did not build it himself, but he was essentially the architect and he incorporated some unusual Neligh Coates features.

The heating system was supplemented by creating an airspace around the flue for the fireplace. When a fire was burning this airspace would heat up and a fan could be turned on to blow this warm air into the bedrooms to heat them.

The bedrooms were up three steps, which left a vacant space under them. This space contained a king-size bed hidden behind paneled doors which you could open and pull out the bed to provide extra sleeping space.

The road that serviced the property was at the top of a rather steep hill. Getting tired of hauling luggage and groceries up and down the hill, Dad decided to install a cable car. Most people would just build a box to move things but not Neligh Coates. Dad took a trip to San Francisco to study the real thing and not only came back with ideas but a real cable car bell. The Coates cable car was an authentic replica of the real thing: a pleasure to ride and featured in several magazines.