Glenn Springs, SC

For four years, we lived within the city limits of Union, SC. The lot was small and shady. Meredith was a horticulturalist, and I was into Mother Earth News, so we both felt we needed more land and sunshine. In 1978, we bought a 1911 fixer-upper in the historic district of Glenn Springs and eventually accumulated 13 acres of rolling, wooded, and watered land. The photo below was actually taken in the early spring before we moved in.

By summer, we had moved in, begun to clean up, put in a garden, and begun to plant grass. Here, Colin is running through the autumn leaves. Meredith's parents, Bonnie and Clarence, parked their motor home next door and pitched in to help.

Our Twenty-Four-Year Glenn Springs Project

(Click the thumbnail for a larger version.)

		One of the striking features of our new property, especially to a non-native, was the sea of kudzu that lapped right up to the porches that surrounded the house. In the winter, the top foliage all died back to a dead brown, and our "new" home glistened on a little emerald isle in the midst of this vast sea. The next year however, new tendrils emerged and began to spread and climb. Kudzu vines grow visibly each day, even each hour. They climb trees and cover houses. I was convinced that, had we delayed just one year, our home would have been covered. As it was, by mid-summer, the back pasture was over six feet deep in coiled, impenetrable kudzu. One of our first projects was to cut it out, dig up the tubers as thick as your arm, and to burn huge piles of the debris.
		Meredith's father decided that he would tackle the windows. These were of the double-hung variety, and caulk was old and brittle, the glass was broken out, and most of the sash cords had rotted. Clarence removed, reglazed, and rehung every one. In the kitchen, Clarence rebuilt a back door into a window and converted a double door into a tighter single door.
		As our first Christmas came around, Meredith and I settled down over a cup of tea.
		When we moved in, we found buckets throughout the attics, catching the many roof leaks. During 1979, reroofing became one of the top priorities. However, I do seem to recall that replacing the ancient electrical system and rusted-solid plumbing seemed pretty important, too. We upgraded from one to two-&-a-half baths. The old house was totally uninsulated; we tackled that oversight, too. In this second photo, Clarence is hanging out of the attic window, and Meredith is roped mountaineer-style on top.
		Some family gatherings during 1980
		Paint going on in 1981. A celebration in 1982.
		The house was built on a slope, so the back of the house towered even higher off the ground than the front. In order to reach the highest back corner, Meredith had to extend an extension ladder, tie a plank to the top of that, and then balance a step ladder on the plank. Even then, she had to reach out rather precariously.
		It was a big house – ten rooms. We enjoyed hosting family get-togethers. In the second photo, Meredith and Harold's mother, Betty, plant fence posts by hand We fenced several acres to keep the horses in. We also raised one or two calves for beef every year or two.
		From the beginning, the only heat in the house came from a big, cast-iron woodstove in the kitchen. Here, Harold's Dad, George, is felling a tree, part of the annual effort to fill the woodshed. Betty and Harold on Maudie and JW.
		Colin is splitting firewood in 1986. Colin and Jesse in 1987.
		Meredith caring for one of many azalea beds in 1988.
		The house was built of old-fashioned heart-pine. It was pretty wood, but it sure wouldn't hold a coat of paint. It seemed as though we just kept painting. By the time we made it once around the house, the first side was ready for scraping, caulking, and painting again. Meredith on the back porch swing, 1992.
		Colin and good friend, Dusty. He really got into cars and motorcycles and off-road abandon. The woodshed measured 10 x20 feet, and I had to fill it every summer. I liked that big wood cart, pulled by a 1952 Ford tractor. The wheels were simply rounds cut from a big poplar log – sort of a Fred Flintstone kind of vehicle.
		Our drinking water came from a spring down the hill at the bottom of the pasture, and just below the spring was a boggy area that I never could clean up. The horses and cows wouldn't go in there to graze, and when I tried to drive the tractor in to bush-hog the rampant growth, I'd sink to the axle. Finally (this is still about 1992), I took a shovel and wheelbarrow down there and started digging. I dug out the lowest spots and built up the higher spots. I spent several years playing in the mud down there, and though it probably sounds relatively pointless, I found it to be surprisingly theraputic – a great stress-reliever. At the height of this project, I had three tiered ponds. We grew water lilies and lotus. I collected a good bit of material there for my biology teaching laboratories, too.
		Here, Meredith is painting again (still), 1993.
		Yes, it snows occasionally in South Carolina. And I'm still collecting firewood, too – 1996.
		Backyard, 1996
		We'd actually begun to think about the time when we would sell this home into which we had put so much. We decided we would have to have a kitchen that was more of a showplace and less "country." Yes, we actually put in central heat and air, and the woodstove would have to go. Sigh. Here, we admire a backyard garden-pool, 1997.
		Another family gathering, 1997. And an autumn view, 1999.

We sold the property to a local family, outdoors and history enthusiasts, in 2002. In the sales literature, this is some of what we said:

Terrific location in historic Glenn Springs, home of mineral spring and resort hotel popular from 1838 into 1940s. Community listed on National Register of Historic Places, 1982. Bright white, two-story with full attic and wrap-around porches built in 1911. Two living rooms with lare, double sliding doors, dining room, mase bedroom with adjoining bath, extra-large and modern kitchen, laundry room, four bedrooms upstairs, 2 1/2 baths total. High ceilings, lots of beautiful woodwork, 9 fireplaces, ceramic tile, mirrored mantles. Zoned heat and air throughout. 12.5 acres of woods, spring, streams, and pasture. Landscaped with built-in garden irrigation.