This home was built for Leon & Vera Bradford by the Irwinville Farms Project, an initiative of the Farm Security Administration. The Bradfords moved to Irwinville from Lanier County in 1935 and like other members of the program had to wait for their home to be constructed.
Because the houses were utilitarian and therefore quite small, most families outgrew them. A variety of expansions can be seen on most of the surviving Irwinville Farms houses today; the Bradford house has a minimal addition at the rear but it’s still one of the best examples of the way houses were originally built on the project.
Here’s the house as seen by John Vachon, 1938 – Courtesy Library of Congress
I’ve photographed the tobacco barn on the farm many times over the years, and it remains one of my favorites. It’s an iconic symbol of Irwinville Farms.
