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This is a contributing entry for Driving Tour of Arthurdale and only appears as part of that tour.Learn More.

This Stone-style house was one of the third type of house built here. Made out of Preston County sandstone, they were erected between 1936 and 1937 and are distinctive for their smaller appearance. They too have four bedrooms. The Joe and Viola Tres family moved into this house after they had lived at M-12 for several months. Severe flooding there pushed the family to move to higher ground here in the late 1930s.


Viola and Joseph Tress resting on their front porch

Plant, Tints and shades, Chair, Vintage clothing

U-13 Homesteader Joseph Tress going off to work

Hat, Sky, Collar, Musical instrument

Tress daughters Eleanor, Theresa, and Carolyn

Photograph, Dress, Adaptation, People

U-13 Today

Sky, Building, Window, Property

The last group of houses built in Arthurdale derive their name from the stone quarried from a nearby hillside, which became the principal building material for them. Begun in 1936, the 40 stone homes were completed the following year.

These multi-storied homes featured two styles: Colonial and English Tudor. Although the stone home floor plans were very similar to the Wagner homes, the major difference between the two was the extensive use of stone to replace the cinder blocks and framing. Each stone home had six rooms and featured all of the conveniences and appliances of the first two styles with the addition of stone fireplaces. None of the stone homes built had basements, but they were provided with root cellars for storing vegetables and canned food.

Arthurdale Heritage, Preserving Arthurdale, WV – Eleanor Roosevelt's New Deal Community. Arthurdale Heritage Inc.. Accessed March 20, 2017. http://www.arthurdaleheritage.org/.

Axelrod, Alan. The Colonial Revival in America. W.W. Norton & Company, 1985.

Haid, Stephen Edward. "Arthurdale: An Experiment in Community Planning, 1933-1947." Master's thesis, West Virginia University, 1975.

Maloney, C. J. Back to the Land: Arthurdale, FDRs New Deal, and the Costs of Economic Planning. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.

Patterson, Stuart. “A New Pattern of Life: The Public Past and Present of Two New Deal Communities.” Doctoral Thesis, Emory University, 2006.

Penix, Amanda Griffith. Images of America: Arthurdale. Arcadia Publishing, 2007.

Ward, Bryan. A New Deal for America. Arthurdale Heritage Inc., 1995