A stone “bath” fed by a cold mountain stream off the kitchen in an Amish home. The stream is harnessed by a system of pipes and baths into the home before heading down the mountain again.
By Kevin Williams
Throughout my years visiting Amish homes I’ve seen it all: rundown, ramshackle houses; homes worthy of a spread in Better Homes & Gardens, and many in between. I’ve seen electric refrigerators, gas refrigerators, cool cellars, ice houses, springs, and streams. We were discussing the Amish and refrigeration yesterday which got me thinking about one especially inventive Amish home I visited once high in the mountains of western Virginia.
This was a log home that featured an ice, cold mountain stream that actually is channeled into and through the house. While the stream is in the house it is corralled into a stone trough that serves as a “chilling bath” for perishables that need to be kept cold but not frozen. WOW, I love my Cokes ice-chilled to the point where they are super cold but not frozen. This stream would be amazing for that.
This Amish family owns a construction company so they are fairly affluent by Amish standards (or probably by anyone’s standards!). Take look at their spacious kitchen!
A spacious kitchen in an Amish home….warm, rich knotty pine gives this a very homey feel…The stone “chilling bath” fed by the mountain stream is just off the kitchen to the right.
