Summit man builds plumbing relics
SUMMIT TWP — People driving by the Simmons property on Beck Road could be forgiven for thinking for a moment they have been transported back to a time before indoor plumbing.
That's because in front of the home of Dale and Nancy Simmons are two wooden outhouses. The couple advises people passing by should not attempt to use them because the structures are solely decorative.
“It's not plugged in,” Nancy Simmons said, but said they could be modified for actual use.
Several years ago, Nancy Simmons, 75, asked her husband to build an outhouse to put on the property just for fun. As she was growing up, her family had an outhouse.
But her request was admittedly an odd one.
“I didn't do it at first,” Dale Simmons said.
In 1967 when the couple moved to their home, which they said likely was built in the 1700s, it had an old outhouse in the back. The house also had an indoor bathroom.
About five years ago, a neighbor was changing the boards on his barn and was going to burn the wood he removed. Dale Simmons, 76, instead took that wood and used it to build the first outhouse. Because the wood was old, it had a vintage, weathered look.
He spent about a week building the 9-foot-tall, 40-inch-wide structure.Dale Simmons retired from the maintenance department at Concordia Lutheran Ministries near Cabot, and worked in construction before that. He said it was not too hard to figure out how to build an outhouse.He built the second outhouse after a request from a passer-by.Earlier this year, when there was construction on Route 422, a woman from Ford City drove by the Simmons house on a detour and their outhouse caught her eye. She stopped in and asked if she could buy it.Dale Simmons said the outhouse could not be sold and moved because it was posted into the ground.“Besides, it was mine,” Nancy Simmons said.The woman asked if she could pay for him to build another one, and he said he would.He got the lumber for this outhouse at a retailer.He put a smiley face on the structure. The old outhouse had one, but it recently was removed because it became weathered. He also placed a few flowers — made of colored vinyl siding — around the outhouse.This outhouse also took a week to build. Dale Simmons said the woman is expected to pick it up in the spring. Until then, it will take up residence near the first outhouse.Nancy Simmons praised her husband's work.“He's a gifted woodworker,” she said.
