At Spring Hill Ranch, a combination storm and root cellar behind the house was accessible from a lower level and served as both a refuge from tornadoes, which Mrs. Jones especially feared, and a place where fruits and vegetables could be stored through the winter at proper temperature and humidity. A nearby structure was thought to be a curing house where meats were preserved by pickling or curing, or possibly a summer kitchen. Beneath it, an underground spring house used cold spring water flowing through a trough to provide year-round refrigeration for food. Numerous springs in the Flint Hills supplied water to settlers and ranchers, and Mr. Jones named his Spring Hill Ranch for this necessity. An outhouse near the smoke house was another necessity and was built more solidly than most homes of the period, with three holes.