Places find me. I'm drawn to them as if an unseen hand is gently pulling me along saying, "this is where you need to be right now." My whole life, this is the way my gypsy spirit has flowed. I think it's because I'm an old soul, travelling to places I've once been. Mama say's I get it from my granddaddy.
Thursday, May 10th, we close on our beautiful 112 year old home in Western North Carolina. The "old girl" has been inspected, poked & proded for weeks now. Everyone concurs, "she's got good bones, she's fixable." This seems to be our destiny.........restoring old homes. Much of her architectural detail is still intact, but much has been sorely lost through previous owners. I do have original hardwood floors (some with carpet covering it), I do have the beautiful and original fireplace mantels on the two-sided fireplace. I do know that an old wrap around porch has been torn down and additions added on in it's place. I do know who built the home in 1900, a Mr. Hardin. I have a phone call into his great-granddaughter for further historical information. I know that the Cherokee indians held annual pow-wows in the front yard of this home, along Beaver Creek, which runs through the property. It's magical, it's spiritual, it's where we'll settle ourselves.
The first time I laid eyes on this home, I saw it on the internet and fell in love. I turned to "The Man" and said, "let's go look at it!" When I got home that afternoon from a hike, he told me he had called a realtor and booked us flights to Atlanta, Ga. Gotta LOVE spontaneity.........we do that well as a couple. We flew into Atlanta, rented a car and the rest......well.
Two trips were made back South and a whole lot of other homes were looked at, including making an offer on some acreage (which fell through). In the end, this property spoke to both "The Man" and myself. We have a piece of property with all the amenities, beautiful Appalachian mountain views, and a raging creek. When looking at other properties and homes, we didn't have any of these features, when looking at raw land with creek or lake views (note: Views), we'd have had to pay exuberant amounts of cash. This home, as the home inspector told us, "is a diamond in the rough, beautiful!" We knew that, but it was nice to hear it from a local. And so, on "The Man's" final journey back he made an offer on The Hardin House on Beaver Creek.
Ironically, after making an offer on the home, while researching geneology on my grand daddys side of the family, I'm in the very heart of his/our people. I am 20 miles from Fires Creek, N.C. where some of our people lived. I'm less that 40 miles from the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, where we also had family. I've traced the family back to the early 1600's, starting in Dublin, Ireland, making their way from the Virginia coast to North Carolina where they settled the land. I haven't even begun geneology research on my granny's side, her mother was half Cherokee..........so the exploration continues for me.
I'm fascinated with obtaining information on my people, who were these people? What did they farm and how much land did they farm? How many babies did they raise to adulthood, how many fought in the Civil war? How many fought in the Revolutionary war? What craft did they master? I'm finding answers bit by bit and I'm proud of my people. It gives me strong ground to set forth on. My granddaddy and I were very, very close, I speak with the man often. By far, he's one of the most influential men in my life, I honor him and I want to make him proud of me.
I will live up a holler, on a creek, in the Appalachian mountains. And when I've passed through this life, send me afloat on that creek.......let her energy guide me once again.
