“When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn in happy old age.” – Victor Hugo
This is a house with both a rich ancient spirit and a young vibrant heart. Here are the promised photographs. I’ll make the writing part fairly simple because the story is in the images. Besides, even a long post could never begin to do justice to this amazing house and its gracious custodians, the hosts who generously received us.
Built circa 1855 on a large working plantation, the Buckner Hill mansion has all the features you would hope for. Floor-length windows, 12-foot wide hallways, high ceilings, detailed plaster moldings, wide heart-pine planking, its timbers literally dripping with story.
There’s the famous story – the mansion was the featured residence in the classic Sandra Bullock movie The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya-Sisterhood (2002) – and then there is the story that is still being written.
The home’s current owners, Terry and Brad, love the property with a passion that was obvious the moment we walked through the grand entry. They have done a lot to bring the place into the 21st Century while respecting its history and adding their own style and elegance.
The mansion carries itself with a consummate dignity, an elderly, venerable gravitas that speaks of both a past and a future.
When we rolled out and headed for dinner at the Chef and the Farmer in Kinston, I was both enriched and inspired. You know, there may well be a novel waiting inside those antebellum walls.
Peace and more – Derek
(there are a lot of pictures, but more than worth scrolling through)
Derek Maul: Words, Photographs, and Food for the Journey 