It’s Eclectic, Antique, Architectural Art in the Texas Hill Country as
Camp Lucy Installs a Torajan “Spirit House”
Camp Lucy Installs a Torajan “Spirit House”
While many collect antiques to house in buildings, Camp Lucy’s Whit Hanks collects antique houses and buildings. Joining our French Colonial-era chapel and pavilion from Vietnam, and new Events Hall created from a repurposed early 19th century Amish barn is the newest old addition to our artistically detailed wedding and events venue, a Torajan house from Indonesia.With its colorful and intricately carved wood exterior, saddleback roof made of split-bamboo, exaggerated, upswept gables, and elevated perch on wooden piles, this type of house is unique to the mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, home of the Toraja, its indigenous people. Known as a tongkonan, from the Torajan word tongkon which means “to sit,” this ancestral house was a place to commune. Exceptional aspects of the Camp Lucy tongkonan are its smaller size and status as a “spirit house.” Another novelty of this particular house is, once inside, the occupant can close the house so that there is no apparent entrance or exit to its cozy and dark interior.
These architecturally and culturally distinct houses have been built and inhabited for centuries – the tongkonan now at Camp Lucy is approaching 100 years in age -- but larger, brighter homes are gaining favor in the area. Although smaller than its full-size relatives, the Camp Lucy tongkonan’s status as a spirit house is most likely why it survived wholly intact unlike many of the larger tongkonan that have been cannibalized for parts for new construction. As a spirit house, it was used by the Toraja for ceremonies and celebrations – a fitting addition to our venue!
This special addition to Camp Lucy made its way to Dripping Springs thanks to Chris Featherstone at Austin Auction Company. And, now, in its new home in the Texas Hill Country more than 10,000 miles from the mountains of Indonesia, the Camp Lucy spirit house will serve as inspiration and art on its pedestal of wooden stilts.
As home to an ancestral Indonesian spirit house, a French Colonial-era Vietnamese chapel and pavilion, and an Amish barn dating to the 1800s, Camp Lucy embraces elegant, timeless eclecticism that honors family, love, and celebrations. As several of us in the Camp Lucy family gathered to watch the tongkonan raised to its ultimate resting spot, we all had one question on our mind: what antique will Whit bring home next?
