The Davis home, built in 1916 two years after the build of the historical Little Red School House, was purchased in ‘97 by Dave and Natalie Davis. The home was built by Earl Talley who was one of the trustees for the Red School House. The home was occupied by Talley until becoming Sheriff of Pampa. When the home was very first built the only bathroom on the property was an outhouse. The home and land was owned by Davis’s parents but was later sold. The home went back on the market, and was purchased by Dave and Natalie as newly weds.
“We bought this house when we were young,” Dave said. “It’s been our family home before we had a family.”
Natalie and Dave met in college at WTAMU. Dave Davis grew up in Pampa and Natalie grew up in Vega. The home they live in and have lived in since beginning their life journey together is the same place that Dave proposed.
Natalie has been an elementary teacher for 16 years, and Dave farms with father and brother. The two have been married for 25 years and share two kids, both who attend the college that their parents met.
When the home was first built there was no running water, but was renovated before the Davis’ purchased it. The first renovation done by the two was adding central heat and air to the home.
“Old swamp coolers were only good for molding cabinets and sticky doors.” They joked.
When the two purchased the home, the woman that grew up in it spoke with them about what the home was like before now.
“She told us that the stairs to get to the bedroom (that’s now our daughters) were outside the house,” Natalie Davis said. “The only way to get into her room or back into the house was by coming down those stairs and into the home.”
The big renovations on the home were started in 2020, the home was completely gutted and the two lived across the street in a rental.
“We didn’t think when we’d started our renovations that an epidemic was going to hit,” Dave said. “So the construction took a little bit longer than anticipated, but we were able to come over here and look at how everything was moving along.”
During the renovations, the duo added a master suite and downstairs was gutted, rewired/plumbed and updated. Three walls that previously stood were taken down to give the downstairs a more open concept living room, kitchen and dining room. Throughout the renovations, old pieces of the house were uncovered.
“While renovating we actually found old Pampa newspapers and books,” Natalie said. “The headlines on the newspapers were about the ending of WW2.”
While the house has modern touches, the original traces of the home weren’t taken out.
“We are excited for the people that knew this house then to come see,” Natalie said. “Our theme is home-style Christmas, the ornaments on the tree have a story and I can tell the story for each one, they mean so much to me. I am excited for people to come see our home and feel a part of our family home during Christmas. I like our home at Christmas.”
The tour of homes will happen Sunday, December the 11th. Tickets can be purchased from any members of the Twentieth Century Cotillion Study Club, or at the door of the homes when the tour begins.
*Parts of this article Provided by the Twentieth Century Cotillion Study Club*
