It is a cozy wooden building tucked into the corner of a backyard in an unsuspected neighborhood. The Domino Hall in Cassandra’s backyard was built to replicate her
memories of the domino hall she frequented as a young child. As one of
six kids living and working on a farm, she would spend many days with
her father sharing time between the fields and their mechanic shop in
Myra, Texas. Next door to the shop was an old wooden building with a
table, some chairs and a couple of spittoons. When the doors to the
Myra Domino Hall were open, Cassandra would pop in and check it out.
She’d stand around the table watching the old men throwing bones. Her
own grandfather “Papa” would spend hours playing dominoes with the
guys.
Eventually the Myra Domino Hall was torn down and a
house was built in its place, but Cassandra’s fond memories and love
for the simple wooden building led to the creative structure in her own backyard in Denton, Texas. The
150-year-old barn wood lining the inside of her Denton Domino Hall came
from her great grandfather’s barns. The walls and rafters are lined
with memorabilia from the farm, including rusty soda pop signs from
her great uncle, license plates from many an old farm truck, metal cow
tags and her papa’s Prince Albert tobacco can.
You’ll see more
than dominoes played in Cassandra’s backyard. On any given night you
could catch a good ol’ game of Cribbage or a live music performance by
her roommate and other good friends. Cassandra’s
roommate is Texas singer songwriter Tim Scott. He uses the domino hall
as his rehearsal studio and has hosted many of his musician friends as
they pass through town.
Cassandra and Tim have spent numerous
evenings hanging out with cold beer, great music and good friends.
Often times this happens on the road, visiting hole-in-the-wall bars
off the beaten path. After enjoying this scene for a number of years,
it sparked the idea for bringing it home. It might be an unexpected
site for a backyard in Denton, but Cassandra will be the first one to
admit…you can take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the
country out of the girl.
