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If These Walls Had Ears: The Biography of a House
Tells the story of 501 Holly in Little Rock and the seven families that have called it home from the 1920s to the present, recounting personal drama and fond memories against the background of America's social and cultural history. Includes b&w photos. For general readers. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published August 23, 1996
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About the author
James Morgan
231 books8 followersLibrarian Note:
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There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 3, 2021
If These Walls Had Ears is, as its subtitle suggests, a biography of a house. The author, after having bought the house at 501 Holly St. in Little Rock, became interested in its history, wanting to know why certain things about the house were the way they were, and what the lives of the previous owners had been like. Having just recently purchased an older house (though not as old as the one in this story), I can relate. And I found this to be a fascinating story and an extremely interesting look at a slice of history.
The house was originally built in the 1920s, and the first owners lived there for something over 25 years. The second owners were there almost as long. Though the first owners had died, the author was eventually able to get in touch with their children. Most members of the other families who had lived in the house were still alive, and some of them were willing to talk as well.
Many of the events of the house’s early years were external – it survived the Great Depression, although at one point the owners had to take in boarders, and they briefly had to move to a smaller place themselves while renting out the entire house to somebody else. After they returned, their son went to the Far East during World War II, where he spent much of the war as a prisoner of war, participating in part of the Bataan Death March, and later being transported to Japan. It wasn’t until some time after the end of the war that the house finally saw his homecoming.
Because the house is in Little Rock, the children of the second family were affected by the integration of Little Rock Central High School, where one of the daughters was going to school at the time. (See the book Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Beals for the other side of this issue.) But the most relevant part of this episode in relation to the life of the house at 501 Holly was that the governor of Arkansas decided at the end of the school year in which that happened that he would close the school for the next school year. People had to make do with whatever they could find in the way of schooling. The second daughter wound up going to school out in the country. Before summer school was over, she had taken all the courses they had, and she was bored out of her mind. She went and married her boyfriend sending her mother into hysterics.
Many of the issues in which the house was involved during the next thirty years or so were specific to the house itself. As it grew older, it began to need repairs. Or perhaps the problem was that the needed repairs became more obvious – and more expensive. As the house changed hands several times during a relatively short period, some of the owners who had been friends with earlier owners before they bought the house ended their friendship with the earlier owners over the repair problems.
The book also goes a little into the decoration and furnishings of the house over the years and the life that went on around these furnishings. The first owners liked music, and early in their tenure they would sometimes roll up the rugs, invite their friends over, and dance to the old victrola. Later owners (or their children) did their dancing to a console radio. Still later, one of the rooms that had originally been a bedroom became designated as a den and was where TV watching went on.
The author also uses the book to speculate on the idea of home, and how it has changed over the years.
The house was originally built in the 1920s, and the first owners lived there for something over 25 years. The second owners were there almost as long. Though the first owners had died, the author was eventually able to get in touch with their children. Most members of the other families who had lived in the house were still alive, and some of them were willing to talk as well.
Many of the events of the house’s early years were external – it survived the Great Depression, although at one point the owners had to take in boarders, and they briefly had to move to a smaller place themselves while renting out the entire house to somebody else. After they returned, their son went to the Far East during World War II, where he spent much of the war as a prisoner of war, participating in part of the Bataan Death March, and later being transported to Japan. It wasn’t until some time after the end of the war that the house finally saw his homecoming.
Because the house is in Little Rock, the children of the second family were affected by the integration of Little Rock Central High School, where one of the daughters was going to school at the time. (See the book Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Beals for the other side of this issue.) But the most relevant part of this episode in relation to the life of the house at 501 Holly was that the governor of Arkansas decided at the end of the school year in which that happened that he would close the school for the next school year. People had to make do with whatever they could find in the way of schooling. The second daughter wound up going to school out in the country. Before summer school was over, she had taken all the courses they had, and she was bored out of her mind. She went and married her boyfriend sending her mother into hysterics.
Many of the issues in which the house was involved during the next thirty years or so were specific to the house itself. As it grew older, it began to need repairs. Or perhaps the problem was that the needed repairs became more obvious – and more expensive. As the house changed hands several times during a relatively short period, some of the owners who had been friends with earlier owners before they bought the house ended their friendship with the earlier owners over the repair problems.
The book also goes a little into the decoration and furnishings of the house over the years and the life that went on around these furnishings. The first owners liked music, and early in their tenure they would sometimes roll up the rugs, invite their friends over, and dance to the old victrola. Later owners (or their children) did their dancing to a console radio. Still later, one of the rooms that had originally been a bedroom became designated as a den and was where TV watching went on.
The author also uses the book to speculate on the idea of home, and how it has changed over the years.
September 11, 2020
A man moves into an older house with his family and begins wondering about the other families who have lived in the house. He begins to research the question and comes up with the history of the house.
November 5, 2016
I loved this book!!! Very interesting getting to know the past owners of a home…So well written I hated for it to end, so I read it twice!
How many times have we all wished we knew the history of our house? This book is fascinating! The book goes into great detail about the history of the neighborhood and the house itself, as well as its occupants. This answers the question "what history occurred here before I arrived?" The author tells the independent stories, of the people who lived before him as owners, of this particular Craftsman bungalow in one old Southern neighborhood. He tells of a wonderful account of our nation’s history as well. I highly recommend it.
How many times have we all wished we knew the history of our house? This book is fascinating! The book goes into great detail about the history of the neighborhood and the house itself, as well as its occupants. This answers the question "what history occurred here before I arrived?" The author tells the independent stories, of the people who lived before him as owners, of this particular Craftsman bungalow in one old Southern neighborhood. He tells of a wonderful account of our nation’s history as well. I highly recommend it.
September 27, 2019
“A house is man’s attempt to stave off the anarchy of nature. Ripping up that floor had allowed a disturbing glimpse into the house’s secret life. It’s more comfortable not to know about such things.” – pg. 88
James Morgan may have been speaking about Billie Murphree’s floor rot from undercover water, but no words used in description of a house have ever hit me harder or rung so true...
Read my full review here: http://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2...
James Morgan may have been speaking about Billie Murphree’s floor rot from undercover water, but no words used in description of a house have ever hit me harder or rung so true...
Read my full review here: http://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2...
November 18, 2008
A wonderful read for anyone who has ever wondered about the previous families who have lived in the house one resides in. The author delved into the histoy of his house and what results is a thoroughly intriguing story--a sweep through the decades from the time it was new in 1890 until the current time--all the social and physical changes that occur during the life of a house. A super read!
May 26, 2009
Magazine writer settles in Little Rock and decides to write about the history of his house in Hillcrest, going back to who first built it and what happened in the lives of the people who lived there until he bought it. I read this book as a teen and just picked it back up again since I bought a copy last year off amazon. It's still as good as I remember.
July 22, 2016
I think I have owned this book since college and just never got around to reading it. I have been remiss in talking this long to read such a great book. We get to see the interior workings of so many regular middle class American lives throughout the last century. It is so comforting to see that life does go on even when it is hard.
February 9, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. Reading about the house and families who lived in it from when it was first built until the present owner (the author of this book), Inspired me to continue with my own Genealogy.
January 16, 2016
I really wanted to like this book. I loved the concept but it just did not come together for me. Not only was it a dry read but it was filled with to many unnecessary details. I did find some parts to be interesting but not enough to give it more than two stars.
March 26, 2011
a little awkward- but it was OK
August 10, 2013
I don't know how a publisher could have approved this book. Little is interesting beyond forced integration in Little Rock.
February 19, 2017
i surprisingly really liked this book.im not into biographys but this made me want to read it,and not put it down.Loved the writing style and the stories were very attractive.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews