The Cottage

So far, we have really only focused on the renovation of the main house. We also have three outbuildings in need of some rehabilitation. As our house becomes more and more stabilized, we have been able to take on some minor work on these buildings.

The Cottage

What we are now calling "the cottage" once served as the plantation office. We even found a description of it in a memoir by a woman named Elizabeth Sparrow McCord from 1938. When she was a child, Elizabeth and her family took refuge at Greenwreath during the Civil War. She calls this outbuilding the overseer's house. Early photographs we have found as well as aerial photos from Google maps show that this building had an extension off the back with the kitchen and bathroom. This has only recently been demolished, prior to our purchase. What we have remaining is the original 2-room layout with a central chimney and some pretty cool Greek Revival two-panel doors. Someday we will get to renovating the interior, but structurally it is incredibly sound. Much more so than the main house was when we moved in. The only real damage was to the roof where the extension was removed - the metal was never repaired to fit the old section of the building properly.

Damage to the roof

As Hurricane Florence finally dies down outside, we are reminiscing about a fairly strong thunderstorm that peeled back that section of roof like a tin can, letting rainwater in. There is a saying around here about old or abandoned buildings: "Once the roof goes..." It elicits these visions in my mind of an immediate collapse into a pile of broken timbers.

Peeled back metal with a sheet of plastic for protection

We sprang into action to prevent that from happening. Finding someone who can repair a standing-seam metal roof of this era (1950s) is a challenge in itself. The supply of material is not all that common, nor is the skill to blend a repair with the original. Luckily, we found Danny Whitely to do the job. He and his team got it done in no time, and the repair is perfect! One the roof is painted, you will never know that it was ever altered.

I can't speak enough about all the local craftsmen we are able to find, largely by word of mouth, in our area. It means to much to us that each project is done in a manner keeping with the nature of the property as a whole. Without all of these very talented people, we would not be able to accomplish this.

New roof!