Apr 17

Written by: Sandra Simpson
4/17/2006 1:10 PM

     I enjoy traveling around this state and visiting with folks in their homes. I enjoy listening to their histories, eating their food, and then bringing home some good recipes and decorating tips. No time is better for this than the spring and not many places are more hospitable and beautiful than the Warrenton, N.C. Spring Tour of Homes.
     But for me, Warrenton is more than a small, historic, N.C. town just short of the Virginia state line. The three years I lived in Warrenton influenced the way I look at life, home, and history.
     After my freshman year at Henderson High school I moved 20 miles northeast to Warrenton. While in high school I had a part-time job. I worked in a shop on the Main Street of town, the Polk-a-Dot Shop. The shop was in a very narrow building that sold nick-knacks for the ladies and 45 rpm records for gospel and blues lovers. The name was Polk because the original owner of the shop was a descendent of our 11th president’s family, James Knox Polk (1795-1849).
     When I moved to Warrenton, Mr. Polk had already died but Mrs. Ann Polk kept the shop going. On a few afternoons and on Saturdays she trusted me to run the shop. She also exposed me to a bit of southern pride; with much love and enthusiasm she shared the Polk family home and furnishings with me. She never once referred to the furniture as antiques. She called them “family pieces”. I learned then that it is was not the dollar value of the furniture that mattered; the real thrill was the story behind each heirloom. I adored the way the furnishings represented a clear and visible connection to the intangible past.
     I left Warrenton in 1972 and Mrs. Polk has since died but there are still wonderful folks in Warrenton that carry on the tradition of sharing their homes’ history. On Saturday, April 29th from 10am to 5pm and Sunday, April 30th from 1pm to 5pm, nine Warrenton families and the historic churches on Main Street will open their doors to share their stories with the attendees of the 2006 Spring Tour of Homes.
     Four fabulously decorated homes constructed in the 1900’s and five antebellum homes make up this year’s spring tour. For the Warrenton tour it is best to start right downtown at the historic former residence of master builder, Jacob Holt. The Jacob Holt residence (1855) is now a visitor’s center and there you will find tour tickets, directions to all the homes, light refreshments, a heritage quilt display and a video, “Warren County, North Carolina: The First Three Centuries.” If you are a novice at historic home touring, the Jacob Holt house you will give you the exposure you need to start cutting your baby teeth on the architects and craftsmen that are specific to the antebellum era in and around Warrenton. And if you take the tour on Saturday, you will learn that lunch is provided on the lawn of the Wesley Methodist Church. The ladies will be serving chicken pasta, fruit cup, Chinese cabbage and desert. I have provided the recipe for the chicken pasta below. It is quite yummy with grapes, green peas and celery. I suggest throwing in a few walnuts or southern pecans, just to keep the crunch going!
     Just around the corner from the Jacob Holt home is The Fitts-Mordecai-Plummer House. This 200 year-old lady is hard to miss. Just look for her two-pair of tall double-shouldered chimneys. The only problem with making this your first private residence on the tour is that you will not want to leave. Owner, Richard Hunter has spent many hours in the name of Preservation Warrenton. He and Mary are most gracious and knowledgably host and hostess.
     The four other private residences that are in town are: The historic Halifax House, Ford Cottage, Whitsome, and the 1920’s Boyd-Burrows home. Halifax House is owned by Judy and Charlie Edwards. They also own one of Warrenton’s most fabulous larger homes, Dun-Mor. If the Halifax House furnishings are anything close to their fabulous Dun-Mor home, it will be well worth the trip from Raleigh. The Ford Cottage is owned by antique shop owners, the Millers; need I say more! And the Boyd-Burrows House on Main Street has a fabulous addition and this homes front porch swing is a good place for the husbands to sit and watch the world go by while their wives dream of their own new gardens and home additions.
     On the road to Shady Oaks, you will want to stop by Whitsome. Both of these homes are must sees. Be sure to ask how Whitsome’s Federal style home’s architectural details are related to Montmorenci. During its heyday (1830’s) Montmorenci was considered the most “lavishly detailed” home in Warren County. Montmorenci was dismantled years ago and the suspended stair case became part of the DuPont family museum, Winterthur, in Wilmington, Delaware. The staircase was redesigned as an oval rather than the circle (as it appeared in Montmorenci) and the stair case is now a two story, rather than one.
Please refer to the picture on my website..
     Shady Oaks is owned by John and Barbara Kennedy and if there is ever a restoring legend, here it is. When I lived in Warrenton this home looked beyond repair but the Kennedy’s found just the right materials and craftsmen to reincarnate this fabulous home and grounds.
     Just out of town are two homes built on what the locals call Country Club Road. The Wemyss Home was one of the first built across from the Warrenton Country Club and is owned by the son of Gladys Wemyss, best know as the proprietor of Warrenton’s flower shop. Besides fabulous flowers, Todd and Claudia Wemyss have made several architectural updates.
     The Bugg House has just been recently decorated by designer Jim Schmalenberger. He came from Warrenton via Wannamaker’s in Philadelphia and has been putting his mark on North Carolina ever since. According to Jim, who is now “retired?” designing and decorating are “a bus man’s holiday”. The Bugg house has Jim’s stamp inside and out, with a unique new pergola and herringbone brick sidewalks. If this home proves to be the traditional Jim Schmalenberger, each room will flow into the next, all looking like the furnishing’s were grown there rather than purchased and placed there.
     Warrenton is just an hour northeast of Raleigh and if you can’t make it to the tour, Warrenton has a fabulous historic Bed and Breakfast, the Magnolia Manor. www.magnoliamanorbnb.com. Owners, Larry and Shelia Carver will give you a tour of their manor. They may even give you a peak at photo’s from some of their past events and interesting guests; weddings, quilters, foxhunters…….all Southern, all wonderful!

Recipe for Chicken Salad Pasta
3 cups chicken broth
2 chicken breast, skinned and boned
5 ounces small shell pasta
1 cup mayo, Dukes of course is best!
½ tsp celery salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp Dijon mustard
2 celery sticks, diced
1 cup green peas, cooked ever so lightly
1 cup of seedless grapes cut in half.
Cook chicken in broth, drain and chill. Save broth, cook pasta in broth. Rinse and cool pasta, cut chicken in cubes.
When chicken and pasta has cooled assemble with the above ingredients and toss. Serves 12

Copyright ©2006 Sandra Simpson

Tags: