Merry Christmas!

Our first fire in the kitchen fireplace.

Porch Paint

Here's the front porch:

and the back porch:

Notice the beautiful heart pine door thresholds!  We plan to leave these unpainted, choosing instead to apply tung oil and varnish to protect them and keep a natural wood look.

Below, a few earlier detail pictures of the thresholds on the back porch:

A White Farmhouse with a Metal Roof . . . Classic!

We have finally arrived at painting the house.

Below, the last remaining East side underwent siding repair and replacement.

Below, old paint removed.

Below, painting the house white. 

Below, the back porch ceiling. The trim, shingles, and porch ceilings are painted in a SATIN finish.  The clapboards are a FLAT finish. 

Below, the front.  We discovered in the 1942 picture that the front gable trim was a half-circle, and we restored this trim detail.

The House was a Home!

It's not just the old house that inspires us to restore, but the history of the people that lived there. We continue to explore the families that made the Ledford-Colley House a home.

George Newton and Lenora Colley    

GN "Newt" Colley (1858-1917) married Lenora Edwards (1865-1942) in 1881.  According to the book, A History of White County, 1857-1980 ( pub. 2003), in the 1880s , Newt was a teacher in White County, but later became a farmer.  In 1895, he was the County Tax Collector, and also served a 4 year term as Clerk of  the County Court (sometime around or after 1910).  As a member of the Blue Creek Baptist Church, he was a deacon and clerk until his death in 1917. Both he and Lenora are buried at the Blue Creek Church Cemetery.

We discussed in an older post from Aug. 28, 2012, History Mystery and the house gets a new name!, Colley bought the Blue Creek property from JF Ledford in 1896. Newt and Lenora had 7 children at that time. The 1900 Blue Creek census shows all of their children living at home.  Flora, the youngest, not listed, was born in 1900.

1900 Census White Co. Ga Blue Creek District (names as they appeared in the census)

George N. Colley Head b. 1858 Farmer

Lenora Colley b. 1865

Clarence son b 1882

Lillie dau b. 1884

Zeleire dau b. 1884

Ernest M. son b. 1888

Homer v. son b. 1891

Eugene Parks son b. 1893

Lou Ada dau b. 1895

Bonnie dau b. 1899

Without construction documents or records, we can only surmise the state of the house during this time.  The materials in the front part of the house indicate earlier construction, and is most likely what Colley purchased in 1896.  At some point, the house was expanded with a 2 story addition in the back, creating an L shape. The materials used in this section indicate construction around 1900.  Most likely, this was built by the Colleys before Newt's death in 1917.

I'm grateful to the Colley family descendants for the pictures in this post, in particular, to Jerry Colley, the great-grandson of George Newton and Lenora.*

Below is a picture of George Newton and Lenora with 4 of their children, probably around 1910.
Pictured are Bonnie, Eugene, Louada and Flora in front.

Below, a picture of Lenora.



Below, the house in 1942 (possibly the funeral of Lenora).

I love the details seen here, AND we learned a few things!

Details:
The 1940s clothing and hairstyles. 
The dress hanging on the front porch.
The chickens scattered on the left side. 
The hunting dog next to the young girl.  
The man in overalls on the right.
The electric lines running to the front (electricity came to White County in 1937).

Learned:
The barn behind the house.
The trim detail in the front gable was a half-circle.
The trim was painted dark. 
The long front porch.
The back porch wrapped around the back of the house (our contractor was right!).  

Mostly, what I love, is seeing the house lived in.

Below, pictures of the house in 1978.
We see the barn, which today is a pile of wood and metal under vegetation.

Below, the back of the house.

Below, the front.  Those 2 chairs were still on the front porch when we purchased the house in 2011.  To us, that says something wonderful about White County, Georgia!

 

  *Photos courtesy of Jerry Colley.

Porch Doors

September 2, 2011, we entered the house.  We opened doorways and windows for the first time in almost 60 years.  Three days later, we boarded the doors and windows again.  This time for security reasons. 

As we have worked on the exterior, the windows and doors have remained barricaded.  Only opening the front door, perhaps a few windows, during work hours, then shut again.

Until now.

We have three new doors opening onto the porch.  Imagine.  Unlocking the deadbolt with an actual key, turning the knob, and opening the door.  Walking through.  So simple, so taken for granted, yet now, a grand achievement!  At some point, I will forget the pleasure of opening a door and walking through, but for now, I'm on cloud nine.

BEFORE

INSTALLING DOORS

Porches complete. Almost . . .

THE BACK PORCH

What a transformation!  When I look at the before pictures, I'm reminded of early discussions with our contractor and how far we've come.  We knew the stone columns supporting the house had to be replaced, since a solid foundation needed to be built.  We wanted to add an open porch with column supports to recall the old house columns.  We ended up choosing brick rather than stone to tie in the chimney.
Now, the back porch wraps around the back of the house, and we have steps!  The porch metal roofing is installed!  Our contractor was able to match it to the main house.  Later, we will repaint both the new and original roofing.

Before . . .

Now . . .

More Before . . .

And Now . . .

THE FRONT PORCH
The front is a focal point.  It's the face of the house. Rebuilding the front porch has the most visual impact for the neighborhood and larger community.  And it definitely attracts a lot of visitors!

Before . . .

Now . . .

More Before . . .

And Now . . .

More porch views.

Okay. Here's another set of pictures showing then and now.

Then,

and now. . .