Believe it or not, there are people (of reasonable means) who choose to live without indoor facilities, as in kitchens and bathrooms.
Jonah Ford was a 38-year-old schoolteacher near Magnolia, Miss., when he fell in love with and bought his dream home-“a crumbling clapboard house” circa 1835. “Suddenly, I had a project for 20 years,” Ford, now in his 60s, told House & Garden, which featured his beautiful restoration effort in its September issue (Page 184).
Underscore the word “restoration,” as in careful, thoughtful resuscitation. Not a gut-the-place renovation.
Ford, who has several academic degrees and does not seem to be a nut camped out in the woods, wanted “to celebrate the past by living with the past.”
And so, though the pictures show a “classic colonial” with a fresh coat of white paint, sprightly black shutters and lustrous wood floors and ceilings, which Ford restored plank by plank, a different story beats deeper.
There is no running water in his house, no furnace, no kitchen.
“There is an outhouse in the back, and Ford pumps all his water from a well. His only nods to modernity are electricity, a kerosene heater and a telephone-and it is a model from the 1960s,” writes Wendy Moonan, an H&G editor at large.
Ford refused to put locks on his doors. There were none in 1835, and, besides that, he did not want to blemish those smooth planes of fine, Mississippi woodworking. For furniture, he assembled a spare but beautiful collection of local antiques.
The payoff in all of this?
Peace and quiet. Peace of mind. A cherished front porch with “two sturdy benches and a rocking chair.” A view of wild geese, tanagers, yellow-breasted warblers, bluebirds, gray foxes, deer, coyote, possum. An appreciation of the nature of life.
This is a fascinating story about a fascinating man who has forsaken 20th Century accouterments and found a different sort of abundance.
Kids welcome: How do real people live in a real (and really nice) home with three very real kids and two very real dogs? Check out the September issue of Traditional Home, the story “Young at Heart” (Page 105). Kid- and pet-proofing is not the point of the story, but homeowner Laurie Ubben does a great job of dispensing ideas she used in decorating her colorful and comfortable San Francisco foursquare. Ideas such as: densely patterned rugs (that won’t show spills); “French rustic-style chairs and sofas and handsomely worn antiques” (that look all the better with a few more “bumps and scrapes”); indirect and natural lighting only, no table lamps (for fear of kids tripping over cords).
Affordable and lovable: Robert Reed is an architect in Bellevue, Wash., whose wife found the perfect piece of property for their first home. It was his job to design a house they could afford now, love now and improve upon later. The result is the cover piece of the August/September issue of Fine Homebuilding. The Reeds managed to build themselves a charming, two-story, cedar-shingle house, with 1,741 square feet, three bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, study, playroom, living room and separate dining room for a bargain basement, $78-a-square-foot. How Reed, the architect, managed to do this without forgoing the charm factor is detailed, complete with plans and specs. (Those who cannot find Fine Homebuilding in major bookstores should call the publisher, The Taunton Press, 800-283-7252, for a copy.)
