TJm i<>ike Wcu^ 



ikatBin^ Built 



By JIM THOMSON 



Ass't Editor, lAA Record 



I was 



IS the house that bins built," 

 was the way a newspaper writer 

 ' described the home of Farm Ad- 

 viser Thurman Wright of White county 

 in a story which recently appeared in the 

 press throughout the country. 



The house is constructed of six dis- 

 mantled soybean bins. But that only 

 tells part of the story. 



The ingenuity and hard work which 

 Farm Adviser Wright put into the job 

 to give his family this beautiful home on 

 the outskirts of Carmi was omitted in 

 the newspaper account. 



For no jerry-built shack is the Wright 

 home, even though it may leave such an 

 impression in over-emphasizing the part 

 soybean bins played in making the house 

 fjossible. With the few acres of land 

 on which it is situated, a buyer has sug- 

 gested a price of $15,000. 



Not too enthusiastic about selling, 

 Farm Adviser Wright needs the spacious 

 six-room house for his lively, growing 

 family of three boys and a girl. Besides, 

 Mrs. Wright and the children have made 

 it plain to Dad that this is the home 

 they have been waiting for. 



Buys Soybean Bins 



Like millions of other American fam- 

 ilies dreaming and scheming of the day 

 they could start building, Mr. and Mrs. 

 Wright bought a few acres northwest of 

 the city. And in spite of the obstacles in 

 the way of building, the Wrights, never- 

 theless, decided to do something about 

 it. 



Learning that a group of soybean bins, 

 14 feet wide and 24 feet long no longer 

 needed by the Commodity Credit Cor- 

 poration for soybean storage, were to be 

 auctioned off last fall, Wright investi- 

 gated and decided he might be able to 

 use the bins to build his house. 



Thinking over the possibilities of the 

 bins, Wright decided to get the opinion 

 of University of Illinois housing men 

 before going ahead. 



Quite conveniently, several University 

 housing men were scheduled to meet 

 soon in Mount Vernon. Holding the 



meeting for the purpose of teaching farm 

 advisers how they could best help farm- 

 ers with their remodeling, they urged 

 Wright to proceed with his plans to 

 build with soybean bins. 



Others in the Carmi area apparently 

 had the same idea because when Wright 

 went to bid on the bins, he discovered 

 the prices were higher than he expected 

 to pay. 



Bins Cost $1,140 



Undaunted, he bid on bins in three 

 different communities — Golcenda, 

 Omaha, and Shawneetown — and had 

 six delivered in Carmi at a total cost of 

 $1,140. ] 



After preparing the basement and 

 foundation, Wright laid out two of the 

 14-foot flooring sections from the bins 

 making the width of the house 28 feet. 

 By joining the bin siding panels together, 

 the house assumed a length of 52 feet. 



Partitions between the rooms, which 

 include three bedrooms, a livingroom, 

 diningroom, kitchen and bath, were made 

 from wood separated from the bin sid- 

 ing. Plans for the house were drawn by 

 Wright in his spare time in collaboration 

 with University of Illinois housing men. 

 Following his plans, Wright, a pretty 

 good draftsman, supervised the placing 

 of the floor and roof supports besides 

 helping with the actual construction. 



Install Labor-Saving Aids 



The Wrights kept a sharp eye out for 

 labor saving aids during construction and 

 took advantage of the chance to build a 

 number of recesses in the walls for tele- 

 phone, ornaments, books, door chimes, 

 radio and kitchen clock. 



The well-known rush for school in 

 the morning is to be avoided somewhat 



White County Form Adviser TiMinnan Wright works In the unfinished kitchen of his new 



home. Kitchen Is scientifically designed for convenience and ease. Eldest son, Thurman, 



Jr., talks with Dad. Sens James (left) and John sit in unfinished breakfast nook. 



12 



L A. A. BECORD 



