Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1896 — Rusticating in a Cactus House. [ARTICLE]

Rusticating in a Cactus House.

Probably the cheapest residence ever constructed was one recently built by Frank Haven, a young man from Boston, on the border of the great Colorado desert. The lot on which the house was built cost him nothing, and the house itself next to nothing, says The Chicago Chronicle. Mr. Haven went to California for his health and for a time lived In a-cottage, but finally decided that the more of that sunshiny air he could get the better it would be for him. He tried living in a tent, but it was blown away in a sandstorm. Then he went out on the desert, in the neigborhoood of Indio, and found a clump of gigantic cacti. These made the walls for his dwelling. For a roof he bought seventy-five cents* worth of stout muslin. His only other Implements or materials were an axe to chop down the cactus pillars that were in the way, and a ball of strong cord and some tacks to lash and fasten the roof to its support. There he eats, sleeps, reads, writes, thinks and gains health. There have been several fierce sand storms, but none of them has harmed the cactus house or caused him any discomfort. The sole cause of annoyance to him has been the presence of wild animals, which for the first week or two of his residence in thnt strange abode howled vigorously about his cabin.