The day began with a few failures. I found wonderful locations to showcase in the article for this week, but the owners didn’t want to be “known.” While franticly looking for another location, I ran into a friend of mine. When asked what she was doing in rural Caledonia, she replied ”I live here.” After some puzzling glances, I convinced her to let me take some photos, and poke around.
Ann and Tim Small’s house at 6652 Nicholson Road was built in 1857 and still sits on its round log foundation. The original builders hoped the house would last the test of time or at least better than the three barns the property has lost in its lifetime due to wind. Though the foundation of the third barn still stands, the Smalls have since put a roof on the foundation, making what they now refer to as the “Party Deck."
The property has many relics from previous owners. The owner previous the Smalls was a horticulturist, and he ran a plant business out of his home named the Husher Hollow Nursery. While looking around, I found interesting things such as a dated American Flag, and assorted odds and ends that now lie in what is known as Tim’s Workshop. The property even still has an outhouse; not that the Smalls would use it if they could even open the door due to the fact that since moving in the outhouse has sunken two feet into the ground it stands on.
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My favorite part about this experience was the color. When the Smalls moved to Husher Hollow, everything needed some new paint. Instead of using a generic Barn Red they went with purple. Puzzled, I asked why, they told me “It was our daughter’s favorite color, and it’s grown on us too.” I was touched on how open to pushing the norm they were, especially since it was something that made their little girl smile.
Links to other Country in Caledonia photos:
