Honoring the Past, Building a Future
I have been thinking about a photograph I have never seen. It would show South Church Street in Rocky Mount when beautiful Victorian houses stood along what was once one of the city's most desirable residential avenues. Imagine the front porches, decorative woodwork, tall windows, steep gables, and handsome rooflines of houses built by families … Continue reading The Last Victorian House Standing on Church Street
Her name was Kate. She was a fabulous hostess, cook, and all-around energetic and talented gal. It was from her that I first heard the pronouncement, “It’s all in the presentation.” I think a dessert failed for a small dinner party, and an Oreo cookie on a silver plate was her solution. It became her example, … Continue reading Rocky Mount, NC – It’s All in the Presentation
Screenshot I'm happy when reading, researching, and writing, which has led to a new project. A series I have been writing of house biographies, trying to capture not simply the architecture of an old house, but the people who built it, lived there, loved it, and sometimes stepped forward just in time to save it. One … Continue reading 430 S. Church Street – Rocky Mount, NC A House Biography
I read mysteries, and two of my favorite characters are Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Donna Leon's Commissariat Guido Brunetti. Both men solve mysteries by paying attention to what others overlook, listening carefully, asking questions, and patiently following every clue. I consider both men close literary friends. Over the years, I have become … Continue reading The Case of the Missing Doors
I'm remembering the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life. Little Zuzu Bailey tells her father, George, "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings." I've decided the genealogy world has its own version of bell ringing. When we begin searching for someone from the past, a little bell rings somewhere. This week I started … Continue reading Every Time a Bell Rings…
Preserved, Restored to its full glory. A water color AI photo I know very little about roofs, but I know 430 South Church Street needs one. A few years ago, insurance paid for a new roof on the Cottage for Two in Nashville. When the work was finished, the contractor told me I was good … Continue reading The Roof Comes First
